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Re: [SANS] stunting Sansevierias

Hi List, I've been lurking due to a problem with my ISP.  Posts I have sent
in the past were rejected yet I've been receiving and enjoying (??) the
conversations.  Thanks to Diana, I'm again able to post.

I have been growing canaliculata since I bought the "dwarf" form from
Griggsby in 1980.  My first canaliculata was a much larger plant but then it
turned out to really be the hybrid 'H-13", which I think is also called
'Alva' now.  (Correct me if I'm wrong).  The Griggsby form did indeed grow
from a juvenile form into a taller mature form, but by culture I've kept it
fairly short at about 15".  I have noticed that it more easily  than other
species reverts to the juvenile form which has a pair of short thin
cylindrical leaves.   Then the mature form produces a single thicker taller
leaf.  My theory about Griggsby's tubs of the juvenile form is that perhaps
they were grown from leaf cuttings, and the tubs were filled with individual
plants.  In this way the tubs could be full of growths.  Then, if the
greenhouses were not adequately heated in the winter the plants would suffer
enough that they wouldn't get vigorous enough to move on to the mature form.
But I'm just guessing.

A few years ago there was a plant in one of our shows of S. fischeri with a
pot filled with juvenile growths.  It was very showy and won the blue
ribbon.  I have wondered how the grower kept it in juvenile growth long
enough to get so many growths.  My plants easily grow into the mature form.
And, like cats, dogs, and other forms of life, with sansevierias the
juvenile form is often just more attractive than the grown ups.

I don't know about 'Hahnii' being an example of neotony--has this been
proven or scientifically studied?  Has any one had a "Hahnii' type revert or
mutate back into the tall adult form?  Certainly there are many interesting
examples of maintained juvenile growth in the plant world.  A good example
is Ficus pumila, the creeping fig.  Its juvenile form has very small leaves
in a delicate pattern.  When planted on a wall, it will climb up and change
into the adult form with much larger leaves.  When my mother grew it on our
house in Los Angeles I remember her cutting back the vines to the ground
every few years, which maintained it in permanent juvenile form.
Jon Dixon
Woodside, California

-----Original Message-----
You are saying that Sansevieria canicaulata 'Dwarf' is spontaneous form
that reverts back to the typical form with more generous growing
conditions? Either that means it is dwarfed by growing under severe
conditions or................
Its time to move on to some other topic unless someone can provide some new
information one way or the other. Hermine tried to provide a fresh
perspective and it seems we need still another point of view.

Cereusly Steve
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