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Questions about the Sansevieria pearsonii complex and other things

Questions about the Sansevieria pearsonii group and other things.

Van Jaarsveld (1987, 1994) states that there are two forms of S.pearsonii
in South Africa: one with mottled leaves and often producing stolons above
ground and a second with green, more robust leaves and subterranean
stolons. The second is referable to typical S.pearsonii and the other, from
the Transvaal, could it be the otherwise unknown expatriate Sansevieria
varians N.E. Brown (Kew Bulletin 1915 (5): 29 (1915))?

Have wild localities for allied Sansevieria patens N.E. Brown (Kew Bulletin
1915 (5): 30-31, fig 5A-B (1915), see also Rossovich (1992)) and S.sordida
N.E. Brown (Kew Bulletin 1915 (5): 34-35, fig. 8 (1915)) been found?

There are illustrations of a species from Malawi that resemble S.patens
N.E. Brown. (Hargreaves, Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 47 (supplement): 90,
fig. 19 (1975); Thiede, The Sansevieria Journal 2 (2): 29-31, fig. 2 as S.
aff. gracilis (1993)) Could it be that species?

Is S.sordida N.E. Brown yet another synonym of S.volkensii Guerke
(S.intermedia N.E. Brown)?

Sansevieria 'Koko' (Sansevieria Journ. 4 (2): 67, fig. 3 (1995)) also
appears to belong to this group. Any info on this plant?

There are so many unanswered questions.

References

Brown, N.E. (1915) Sansevieria. A Monograph of All Known Species. Kew
Bulletin 1915 (5): 1-81, 23 figs.

Chahinian, B.J. (1993) Sansevieria touring Zimbabwe. Excelsa 16: 35-45, 10
figs. (reprinted  as Zimbabwe for Sansevieria in Sansevieria Journal 3 (3):
65-67 (1994), 4 (1): 19-23 (1995), 4 (2): 59-64 (1995), 5 (1): 18-24
(1996))

Eyles, F. (1916) A record of plants collected in Southern Rhodesia. Trans.
Royal Soc. S. Afr. 5 (4): 273-564.

Hargreaves , B.J. (1975) Succulents of Chitipa - the muddy place. Cact. &
Succ. Journ. Amer. 47 (supplement): 86-103, 65 figs.

Obermeyer, A.A. (1992) Dracaenaceae in Leistner, O.A. (ed.), Flora of South
Africa 5: 1-9, figs. 1-2.

Rossovich, M. (1992) Sansevieria patens. Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 64 (5):
232, 234, 2 figs.

Russell, M (1982) Sansevieria. Excelsa 10: 112-117, 4 figs.

Thiede, J. (1993) Notes on the Sansevieria species of Malawi. The
Sansevieria Journal 2 (2): 27-34; 2 (3): 51-52, 6 figs.

Van Jaarsveld, E. (1987) The Succulent riches of South Africa and Namibia.
Aloe 24 (3-4): 45-92, illus. (Dracaenaceae, p. 86, 3 figs.)

Van Jaarsveld, E. (1994) The Sansevieria species of South Africa and
Namibia. Aloe 31 (1): 11-15, 10 figs.

Waidhofer, A. (1996) Sansevieria deserti (Agavaceae). Cact. & Succ. Journ.
Amer. 68 (1): 9-11, 3 figs.

**********************

What about Chahinian's (1993) unnamed Zimbabwean flat leafed species? Could
his S.sp. 'Shamva' and S.aff. kirkii from Gwai be the S.conspicua N.E. Br.
mentioned by Russell (1982)? Could his S.sp. 'Low Veld' and S.sp. 'The
Dyke' be referable to S.metalica Gerome & Labroy, S.metallica var.
longituba N.E. Brown or even S.hyacinthoides (L.) Druce (S.thyrsiflora
Thunberg)? Eyles (1916) cites a collection doubtfully identified as
S.senegalensis from Zimbabwe.

N.E. Brown (1915) listed 54 Sansevieria species in his monograph. Horst
Pfennig (1977) (Gartenpraxis 3: 506-511) said about 70 species had been
described by that time. It seems when the dust finally settles and a number
of names prove synonymous that the number will once again be about 50
species, even with recently described species.  I have put together a
provisional list of all the validly named species and their synonymy for my
own amusement.

Is there a complete listing somewhere of all the cultivated clones known
only by collector numbers and localities?

Does anyone know anything about Sansevieria 'Mutomo'? The name is a town in
Kenya. It looks like S.suffruticosa by having rugose and striate leaves but
the leaves are laterally compressed even when well watered. Who is the
collector and is there any more info on its origin?

If there is interest, I can post original descriptions of other little
known species. Can anyone out there translate German or French into
English?

Cereusly,  Steve Jankalski
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