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TOUCH YOUR SANSEVIERIAS!

TOUCH YOUR SANSEVIERIAS!

Stephen Jankalski

It's okay to touch your "Snake Plants", they won't bite.

Many people don't realize that one easy way to tell the various species
apart is by the texture of the leaves. Various species can have leaves that
are smooth to the touch or ones that are roughened or ridged. N.E. Brown
played down the significance of leaf texture but it can be quite a useful
character in distinguishing closely allied species.

Sansevieria trifasciata has very smooth leaves but other species such as
Sans.forskaoliana have leaves that are distinctly rough to the touch.
Sans.elliptica 'Horwood' can be easily distinguished from the closely
allied Sans.forskaoliana by having leaves that are smooth on the upper
side.

Sansevieria erythraeae (Sans.schweinfurthii) has leaves that are smooth,
unlike the rough ones of closely allied Sans.cylindrica.

Sansevieria bacularis has leaves that are roughened, unlike the smooth ones
of closely allied Sans.canaliculata.

The true Sansevieria stuckyi has leaves that are smooth and glossy, unlike
the rough ones of closely allied Sans.fischeri and the hybrid Sans.'Leopard
Bat'.

Many plants of Sansevieria Bally 12681 have become mislabled as
Sans.gracilis in collections but the leaves are quite roughened, unlike the
smooth ones of the true Sans.gracilis, revealing a closer affinity to the
polymorphic Sans.suffruticosa.

Likewise the genuine Sans.philippsiae has smooth leaves while the columnar
impostor sometimes passing under that name, Sans.'McLoughlin' has rough
leaves.

The true Sansevieria zeylanica has leaves that are deeply ridged on the
back, unlike the lined or at most faintly ridged ones of Sans.roxburghiana
that is often misidentified as it in collections.

Do you have any examples of your own?
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