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Sanseviera originally named as Boophane -or- Sansevieria singularis is now Sansevieria fischeri

Dear Hermine,

The Sansevieria described as a Boophane happened only once. It was a case
of an over enthusiastic botanist putting a name on an incomplete herbarium
specimen. Not something to be encouraged. It was only a detached
inflorescence. No bulb. The flowers are in a capitate raceme with scarious
bracts not an umbel and the ovary is superior not inferior. Why John Baker
placed the specimen in the genus Buphane (= Boophane) is a mystery.

According to W. Marais (1986), Horst Pfennig had annotated the specimen in
question, Fischer no. 9, as "not Sansevieria!" and left it at that. Perhaps
he anticipated the confusion it would cause and just wanted it to go away.

Marais (1986) noted that the specimen was the type for Buhane fischeri
Baker, a name that predated Sans. singularis N.E. Brown and made the new
combination Sansevieria fischeri (Baker) Marais to accommodate it according
to the rules of nomenclature. Other complete specimens in the Kew
Herbarium, such as Bally 745, prove that the types for Buphane fischeri
Baker and Sansevieria singularis N.E. Brown belong to a single species. All
this to the chagrin to many growers who hate to change plant labels.

References

Chahinian, B.J. (1992) SANSEVIERIA FISCHERI. The Sansevieria Journal 1 (1):
25--26, 2 figs.

Marais, W. (1986)  A NEW NAME FOR SANSEVIERIA SINGULARIS N.E. BROWN.
(LILIACEAE). Kew Bulletin 41 (1): 58.

Morris, B. (1992) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. The Sansevieria Journal 1 (4): 70,
72.

Cereusly, Steve.
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