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Re: [SANS] FRANK HORWOOD SANSEVIERIA COLLECTION NUMBERS

Dear John,

One cannot take Mats Thulin's treatment of Sansevieria for the Flora of
Somalia seriously. It was a rush job and not based on field work. It is a
seriously flawed mess as Juan has pointed out previously in this forum. The
species list is rife with lumping of different species and
misidentifications. Thulin missed an opportunity to name a few new species
for Somalia. See my informal species list for more information.

The problem with Sanseveria elliptica is that it is a name published long
after N.E. Brown's monograph and it has been overlooked in much of the
popular literature. As I have said, it is found along the coast of southern
Somalia and eastern Kenya and differs from the more inland (extending into
Arabia) Sansevieria forskaoliana (Schultes, f.) Hepper & Wood
(Sans.abyssinica N.E. Brown) by its much smoother leaves. It also appears
to differ from the latter by having a shorter inflorescence and flatter,
thinner leaves. One is tempted to unite the two names but the plants do
look different. There is need for detailed research but that does not seem
likely at the moment considering the current political problems in that
region of the world.

I have photocopies of Chiovenda's original description and figure of
Sanseviera elliptica from Somalia and Grigsby's Sansevieria 'Horwood' and
they are similar. Sans. 'Horwood' appears to have longer leaves with
somewhat different markings and is best considered to be cultivar for now.

None of this information is formally published anywhere.

I believe Juan referring Sansevieria francisii to FKH 434 in the forum
instead of FKH 432 may have just been a typo. We will know for sure when
Juan gets back. Sans. francisii is a cylindrical leafed species in the
Sansevieria suffruticosa group and not at all similar to Sansevieria
'Horwood' or the plant Jeff has as FKH 434.

Cereusly Steve

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
•Subject: Re: [SANS] FRANK HORWOOD SANSEVIERIA COLLECTION NUMBERS
•From: John Gamesby <john.gamesby@AZTEKIUM.OCTACON.CO.UK>
•Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 21:56:43 +0100
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stephen your right about francisii as FKH 432  the Sansevieria
journal March 95 pg.12. You are correct.
But in an email from Juan dated 13 Nov. 1997 he says,
"When I named S. francisii for the cultivar  then known as S. sp.
'FKH 434', I discussed the naming at length with JohnTragger,
Curator of the Desert Garden at Huntington. I would have preferred
to have used  S. horwoodii for 'FKH 434", which I did not in order to
leave room for 'FKH 424' and to avoid creating further confusion.
Has Sansevieria sp. 'Horwood' been described anywhere as S.
elliptica? if not then surely to save further confusion it should be aff.
elliptica?
Looked it up in the latest Flora of Somalia Vol 4. Ed. Mats Thulin
1995., pg 30.
S. forskaoliana (Schult.  f.) Hepper & Wood (1983) Smilacina
foreskaoliana Schult.  f. (1829, as "forskaoliana".
S. abyssinica N.E. Brown (1913).
Acyntha elliptica Chiov. (1932); Sansevieria elliptica  (Chiov.) Cuf.
(1971); type: plant collected by Guidotti in S2 between "Merca" and
"Genale", and cultivated in Modena, illustrated in Chiovenda, Fl.
Somala 2: Fig. 239(1932)
A. abyssinica (N.E. Br) Chiov. var. sublaevigata Chiov., Fl. Somala
2: 419 (1932); S. abyssinica var. sublaevigata (Chiov) Cuf. Enum.:
1596 (1971); type: S3, "Uamo Ido", Senni 260 (FT holo.).
Gillett 4040; Bally 11116, 11751.
A record of S nilotica Bak. in Kulchar, plants of Somalia (1988) is
probably based on material of S. forskaoliana.

So should it not be Sansevieria sp. aff forskaoliana 'Horwood'

All food for thought.

Latha math an-Drasda  John
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