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Sans.ehrenbergii group

Dear Juan,

I am curious how you define the species in the fan leafed species in the
Sans.ehrenbergii group. It is a most difficult species group to understand.

I was most surprised to find the original description and illustration of
Sans.ehrenbergii are not of the glaucous, smooth leafed plant widely grown
under that name but of the dark green leafed plant with deep grooves on the
side (see N.E. Brown (1915)). I have seen both and have Sans.ehrenbergii and
can say that the grooves are not a result of drought. It appears to be the
only species in the group with deeply grooved leaves. Sans.ehrenbergii was
originally described from plants from the Sudan.

The glaucous leafed plant widely grown as Sans.ehrenbergii more closely fits
the description of Sans.perrottii (including Sans.zanzibarica), originally
described from Tanzania. It that is true, then Sans.perrottii could have a
range extending from Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and the Arabian
peninsula. That is much wider than I had earlier suggested in the forum.
Teketay (1995) did say that "Sans.ehrenbergii" is widely cultivated and used
for the making of fiber, fodder for cattle and in religious rituals. This
may account for the wide distribution. One should never underestimate the
influence man has on the distribution of agriculturally useful plants.

Sans.robusta from Kenya is the most massive species of all Sansevierias and
quite remarkable for its bulky smooth green or faintly glaucous leaves.

Sans.rorida, originally described from Mogadishu, near the Somali coast, is
the miniature of the group. It typically has glaucous leaves but is much
smaller than the widely grown "Sans.ehrenbergii" (= Sans.perrottii?) or
Sans.robusta.

Of course, one could lump them all under Sans.ehrenbergii as some have
proposed but that would not solve the problem of identifying the very
different looking different plants in cultivation.

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

Chahinian, B.J. (1993) SANSEVIERIA EHRENBERGII & SANSEVIERIA ROBUSTA.
Sansevieria Journ. 2 (1): 7-8, 1 fig.

Mangani, R. (1996) SANSEVIERIA RORIDA (LANZA) N.E. BROWN. Sansevieria Journ.
5 (1): 11-17, illus.

Mbugua, P.K. (1994) THREE SANSEVIERIA SPECIES OF KENYA. 1. SANSEVIERIA
ROBUSTA N.E. BR. Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 66 (2): 87-88, 3 figs.

Teketay, D. (1995) THE GENUS SANSEVIERIA THUNB. IN ETHIOPIA. A CONTRIBUTION
TO THE FLORA OF ETHIOPIA. Sansevieria Journ. 4 (2): 43-58, 4 figs.

Thulin, M. (1994) Dracaenaceae in Flora of Somalia 4: 27-30.
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