Name: Sansevieria trifasciata
Commonly: Snake Plant, Mother-In-Law's Tongue
Family: Dracaenaceae - Draecana species
Sansevieria is a spreading, clumping upright ornamental.
It can be grown indoors in pots and containers. Also can be reliably used outdoors in landscape spaces, courtyards, side paths or cultivated directly into the outdoor garden as a mass planting or in smaller clumps adding character as a companion amongst other plants.
The unique foliage has an elongated sword like shape. It is strongly fibrous with parellel venation and alternating dark green and pale white camoflage stripes horizontally from the base to the tip of the leaf blade.
The sword like foliage grows from 30cm upto 1m, and upto 3m long.
It has a hardened, waxy and glossy outer edge, which makes Sansevieria very resilient to drought, wind and harsh growing conditions. It also helps ward off potential pest issues.
During the warmer months and high humidity Mother-In-Laws Tongue is fast growing, whilst during the cooler months they tend to slow.
Care must be taken when grown indoors to not leave them too close to heaters and in overly dry rooms as they tend to shrivel up, harden and become less attractive.
Sansevieria enjoys a part shaded, low-light position and copes well in temperatures between 0-43c.
They need a well drained soil and dislike having wet feet for long periods of time. Can suffer fungal issues, especially in the cooler months when over-exposed to these conditions. It's a low-maintenance plant and irregular watering is only required during the warmer months when the top half of the soil is dry and if leaves are showing signs of lacking vigour.
The soil in these pots include material such as coarse perlite which enables good aeration, organic matter such as coir peat which has good water holding capacity, whilst at the same time very breathable to support its main underground rhizome ( an underground stem). New growth shoot up from the rhizome and the plant multiplies..
Another great benefit is the air purifying feature. It absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide and other impurities and releases clean oxygen into the room. When positioned in the bedroom it can offer a healthier and better sleep environment.
When used as a landscape plant it offers simplicity and reliable, long lived foliage that is both striking and has a calming effect in any space.
*Care must be taken when grown outdoors directly in soil, as this plant has become invasive in some parts of Australia. It spreads and grows rapidly in some environments when not kept in check.
