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Sansevieria grandis (Somali Good Luck Plant) - An interesting succulent plant that has stout rhizomes from which arise open rosettes of two to five leathery broadly lanceolate leaves that are 5-6 inches wide in the middle by about 2 feet long and are held upright. The emerging leaves have attractive darker green bands initially but turn a uniform green with reddish margins with age. The white fragrant flowers are in dense racemes to 2 feet tall.
Plant is part to full shade in a well-drained soil. Requires little irrigation but grows much faster with it. This plant has proven to be fairly hardy and withstood short duration temperatures down to 25° F. This plant is a bit like a small Sansevieria masoniana. It apparently has long been grown in Somaliland where it gained such common names as Grand Somali Hemp and Somali Good Luck Plant.
The name for the genus was originally Sanseverinia as named by the Italian botanist Vincenzo Petagna in honor of his patron, Pietro Antonio Sanseverino, the Count of Chiaromonte (1724-1771), but the name was altered for unknown reasons by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, possibly influenced by the name of Raimondo di Sangro (1710–1771), prince of San Severo in Italy. The spellings "Sanseveria" and "Sanseviera" are also commonly seen. The specific epithet refers to this plants large leaves. Long placed in the Agavaceae, the Dracaenaceae and by some in the Ruscaceae families, Sansevieria was most recently placed in the subfamily Nolinoideae within the Asparagaceae family. Molecular phylogenetic studies have persuaded some to include Sansevieria in the genus Dracaena, which would make this plants name Dracaena hyacinthoides. Because of considerable disagreement over this change, the long standing use of its old name, and so not to cause our own and customer confusion, we continue to list this plant as a Sansevieria. Our plants from the Sansevieria collection of Stockton succulent collector and Sansevieria specialist Alice Waidhofer in 2005.
The information about Sansevieria grandis displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
