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Re: trying again (Sansevieria parva)

Dear Unruh,

The name "Sansevieria tranvaalensis" is not valid because it was never
published. Even though the name suggests it originates from the former
Transvaal, that may not necessarily be true. No species resembling
Sansevieria parva has been described from the former Transvaal. It may have
been a name given to a plant that was grown at the National Botanical
Garden in Pretoria, located in the former Transvaal. A similar naming
occurred with a cultivar of Gasteria. If your plant looks exactly like
Sansevieria parva then most likely it is the same thing. Sansevieria parva,
as currently defined,  is a distinctive species not easily confused with
any other. "Sansevieria dambilonensis" is another invalid renaming of
Sansevieria parva.

Sansevieria parva was described as a new species by N.E. Brown in his
Sansevieria monograph together with Sansevieria dooneri. The two species,
both described from material from Kenya, overlap in the variation of their
leaf shape. They are believed to represent the same species by Pfennig
(1977) and Mbugua (1994).

Still, it would be good to get Juan's or anyone else's view on the status
of the invalid names.

Sansevieria parva N.E. Brown, Kew Bulletin 1915 (5): 233, fig. 13C-F
(1915); Agnew, Upland Kenya Wild Flowers 722 (1974); Mbugua, Sanseveria
Journ. 3 (3): 59-62, 3 figs. (1994)
Syn. Sansevieria dooneri N.E. Brown, Kew Bulletin 1915 (5): 231-233, fig.
13A-B (1915); Verdoorn, Fl. Pl. Afr. 28 (4): pl. 1114 (1951)
Kenya

References

Brown, N.E. (1915) Sansevieria. A Monograph of All Known Species. Kew
Bulletin 1915 (5): 185-261, 23 figs., 2 pl.

Mbugua, P.K. (1994) Rediscovery of Sansevieria parva N.E. Brown at the
Nairobi River Falls, Kenya. Sansevieria Journal 3 (3): 59-62, 3 figs.

Obermeyer, A.A. (1992) Dracaenaceae in Leistner, O.A. (ed.), Flora of South
Africa 5: 1-9, figs. 1-2.

Pfennig, H. (1977) Rassebildend Bis Baumartig: Die Sansevierien.
Gartenpraxis 1977 (10): 506-511. (English translation in Cact. & Succ.
Journ. 41 (3): 56-60 (1978))

Van Jaarsveld, E. (1994) The Sansevieria species of South Africa and
Namibia. Aloe 31 (1): 11-15, 10 figs.

Cereusly Steve

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
•Subject: trying again
•From: Unruh
•Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 22:07:49 -0700
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Hello, all,

At the risk of becoming a pest, I'm going to ask again..., before I pass
little misnamed plants on to friends and acquaintances.  Are S.parva and
S.transvaalensis the same thing?  To my untrained eye, they appear to be
identical.  But I haven't seen the flowers of either one yet, so I don't
have anything but the foliage to base my comparison on.   However, the
leaves, markings and growth habit all seem suspiciously similar.

Sorry to be so redundant about this,
Carolyn
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