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[SANS] Sansevieria Flora of Somalia Vol 4 part 1

]46. Dracaenaceae

2.      SANSEVIERIA Thunb. ~794). nom. cons. Brown in
Kew Bull. 1915:185-261(1915).

Plants with creeping rhizomes. with or without aerial stems.
Inflorescence a spike- or head-like raceme or panicle,' flowers
solitary' or 2 or more to each floral bract. Flowers fragrant,
opening at night: free parts of tepals spreading or recurved. usually
white. cream or dull pink.  Filaments slender. Fruit a ber containing
1-3 bony seeds. Some 50 species in the Old World. the majority in
Africa. Some species. in Somalia especially S. ehrenbergii. yield
hemp ("bowstring hemp") and some are often grown as tolerant foliar
ornamentals. Sansevieria is very close to Dracaena and perhaps not
genericallv distinct (see Bos. Belmontia 17.1985). The vernacular
names "xaskul" ("haskul") or "xig" ("big")  are generally  used  for
all  species  of Sansevieria in Somalia. S.     canaliculata Carriere
(1861). with a type of unknown origin. has been associated with
Somalia By various authors (see Brown 1915). However. no material
from Somalia agreeing with the description of S. canaliculata has
been seen. The present account is preliminary and more field work on
the genus in Somalia and elsewhere is needed before a satisfaction
treatment can be made. Most species flower only rarely and for a
short time. which adds to the difficulties. Leaf characters in the
descriptions refer to mature leaves if not otherwise in-dicated.
young leaves often being markedly different.

1.      Plant with stem at least c. 1 m tall    I. S. poweIlii
-       Plant stemless or with aerial stem to c. 25 cm tall.
2. Leaves flat....................7. S. forskaoliana
- Leaves cylindrical or almost so       3
3.      Leaves with a channel only in the basal part
        above......................3.5. phillipsiae
-Leaves. at least some, with a channel running all
  along above...................4
4, Leaves up to 18 cm long. 2-3 together
    ...................................6.5. ejiensis
-Leaves much longer. solitary or several together...5
 5. Leaves thicker than wide. with a triangular channel
     above'. inflorescence a much branched panicle
     .................................2. S. ehrenbergii
-Leaves wider than thick. with a concave
  channel above: inflorescence spike-like.......6
6.Leaves solitary. with c. 4-6 furrows on the sides
   and back....................4.5. fischer)
-Leaves several together. with c. 30-40 furrows on
  the sides and back......5.5. volkensii

1.      S. powellii N.E. Br. (1915): Acyntha powellii)) (N.E.
Br.) Chiov. (1932). Plate 1 F
Aerial stem to c. 2 m high. leafy throughout or with ring-like
leaf scars at the base. Leaves many, in 2 ranks, spreading, recurved,
24-70 x up to 3 cm. slightly rough. rounded on the back. with a
concave channel all along above. gradually tapering to the hard pale
brown very acute spine-like tip. without markings:  margins  of
channel  with  a  narrow red-brown line edged with white. Panicle to
c. 0.5 m high. with ascending-spreading branches  flowers 4-6 in a
cluster. greenish-white with dull purple lines: pedicels 2-3 mm long.
articulated at or slightly above the middle. Free parts of tepals c.
10 mm long. linear, obtuse: tube c. 6 mm long. Bushland and woodland:
0-200 m. Sl-3: Kenya. Rose Innes & Trump 1034: Alstrup & Michelsen
160: Moggi & Bavazzano 1431.

2.5.    ehrenbergii Schweinf. ex Bak. (1875). Fig. 18.
Sansevennia  rorida  Lanza  (1910) :Sansevieria rondo (Lanza) N.E.
Br. (1915): Acyntha rondo (Lanza) Chiov. (1916): type: S2. near
Mogadishu. Macaluso s.n. (PAL halo.. not found). Aerial stem to 25 cm
high. Leaves 5-9. crowded. in 2 ranks. erect or spreading. 75-180 x
2.5-4 cm, laterally compressed with flattened sides, rounded on the
back, with a triangular channel all along above and with 5-12 shallow
grooves or lines down the sides and back. tapering upwards to the
spine-like tip. dark green with blackish-green longitudinal lines:
margins of channel acute. reddish-brown with white membranous edges.
Inflorescence a panicle to 2 m high. much branched: flowers 4-7 in a
cluster: pedicels 2.5-4 mm long. articulated above the middle. Free
parts of tepals c. 7 mm long. linear, obtuse: tube 5-6 mm long. Open
bushland.  semidesert  grassland.  dunes: 0-1200        m. N1-3: S1-3:
Djibouti. Sudan. Eritrea, Ethiopia. Kenya. Tanzania. Aronson& al. 26:
Gillett 4885: Paoli 500. S. ehrenbergi) and S. powell)) differ mainly
in habit (S. powellii)) with a more or less tall stem and S.
ehrenbergi)) more or less stemless). and are often virtually
indistinguishable on herbarium material.

3.      S. phillipsiae N.E. Br. (1913): type: plant collected in N1 By
Lort Phillips. cultivated in Kew and illustrated in Hook. Ic. P1.
30:3000 ~9l2). S. hargeisana) Chahinian (1994): type: cultivated
plant originating from NI. WSW of Hargeisa. Lavranos 7382 (MO holo..
UPS iso.). Plant  usually  with  short  erect  aerial  stems
branching at or above ground level. Leaves usually 5-10. ~
irregularly directed. when young ascending or suberect. later
spreading and slightly recurved, rigid. 10-45 x c. 1-1.8 cm. smooth
to rough. cylindric. with 5-10 longitudinal lines or slight furrows
extending from base to apex and a deeply concave sheathing portion to
9 cm long at the base with acute white edges. rather suddenly
narrowed at the apex into a hard brown spine-like tip. young leaves
faintly marked with transverse bands of paler green. old leaves dark
and slightly bluish-green. In-florescence a spike-like raceme. up to
45 cm tall

Latha math An-Drasda John

     "Man is the Dream of the Dolphin"

John Gamesby
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