It will tolerate low light levels, where it turns a darker green color but grows best and may flower (we haven't seen this yet) in bright light or morning sun. Hardy to 30-32° F but happiest if warmer so give this plant protection in all but the mildest California climates. Water sparingly and not at all as temperatures dip in winter if growing outdoors on a covered patio or under an eave - can literally tolerate going months between watering. A great container plant for interior or exterior use that needs little care. Sansevieria 'Moonshine' won the coveted Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.

We received our original plant came from noted Sansevieria collector Alice Waidhofer tagged as Sansevieria trifasciata 'Futura' (Silver Offset) but note that this plant is more commonly sold as 'Moonshine' and we offer it now under this name. In The Sanseviera Journal (Issue 31 - February 2014) it notes that while this plant appears to be a sport of 'Silver Queen', green leaf reversions of it are closer to S. trifasciata 'Robust'.

The type plant of this species was collected in Nigeria and it was also found in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) but it has naturalized elsewhere and there are many selected forms in cultivation. 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 specific epithet combines the Latin words 'tri" meaning three with 'fasciatus' meaning "banded" in reference to the many leaf markings. 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 trifasciata. 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. 

This information about Sansevieria trifasciata 'Moonshine' displayed on this web page is based on research we have conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations we have made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how our crops have performed in containers in the nursery field. Where appropriate, we will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.