SANSEVIERIA MASONIANA - A NEW NAME FOR A WELL KNOWN PLANT

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SANSEVIERIA MASONIANA - A NEW NAME FOR A WELL KNOWN PLANT

Stephen Jankalski

The widely grown species long known as the cultivar Sansevieria 'Mason Congo' has finally been validly named as Sansevieria masoniana by Juan Chahinian. He based the new species entirely upon the single made by Maurice Mason in the 1970's in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) without the precise type locality known.

Equivalent collection numbers for Sansevieria masoniana Chahinian include Chahinian 258, HBG48586 and GC78133.

This species appears to be closely allied to the more southerly Sans.hyacinthoides (L.) Druce but differs by having broader leaves up to 18 cm (verses 4-8 cm.) wide and flowers that are 40-48 mm. (verses 30-40 mm.) long.

For some unstated reason, Chahinian compares the new species with Sans.bracteata Baker rather that Sans.hyacinthoides (L.) Druce. Sansevieria bracteata Baker appears to be renaming of Sans.aubrytiana Carriere. The latter is a species with leaves with prominent zigzagged markings and a densely congested inflorescence reminiscent of Sans.longiflora Sims.

It would have been desirable for the new species to be compared with herbarium collection previously collected in the Congo (formerly Zaire), particularly with those cited in the literature as Sans.guineensis Jacquin. (See De Wildeman (1921) Plantae Bequaertianae 41-42, for example.)

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

Chahinian, B.J. (2000) SANSEVIERIA MASONIANA, A NEW SPECIES FROM THE CONGO. Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 72 (1): 31, 1 fig.

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

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