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Sansevieria Monograph


Norma, Steve and all
 
Norma, Norma, nobody should do a monograph without anybody knowing. He/she could get good help(badly needed) if  done  openly.
 
The name of the lady working on Zimbabwean (not East African, Steve) Sansevierias is Ms. Takawira, who I assume, has the same nationality.
I neglected to mention that a monograph of sansevierias has already been done. it was the thesis of Paul Mbugua for his doctorate at Reading University, England. It has not been published and I do not have a copy. The few things that I have been able to find about it, plus the det. (determinavit) slips he placed on the herbarium specimens at Kew reveal a lot of discrepancies and outright bizarre distributions for some of the species. Unfortunately, the work he will be doing for the Flora of East Africa will only be checked in Kew, whose botanists leave a lot to be desired when it comes to sansevierias (sorry, I have never ran popularity contests in my life). But, just to give you one example, that even the most beginner of our group would be able to discern: he determined as Sansevieria cylindrica a herbarium specimen that has a channel all along the length of the leaf ( I even run my fingernail in the channel to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me). As we all now,  this plant has a channel only at the bottom, so short as to only let the new leaf come out.
Hopefully you will excuse me this necessary attack/ I am only trying to prove that our experience (that of the collector) is invaluable, we (all of us) really know the plants .
 
Cheers,
 
Juan


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