This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: variegated sansevierias

VARIEGATION IN SANSEVIERIA

Stephen Jankalski

Variegation in plants can occur in several different ways. In Sansevierias,
it occurs two different ways but neither involve viruses.

There are a few well know examples of virus induced variegation in plants,
namely the variegated "Flowering Maples"and the Rembrandt Tulips. One
interesting point to consider that the plant virus involved in infectious
and can infect other plants in other ways. A grower friend of mine had
plants of the purple leafed Abelmoscus that had distorted gnarled leaves
and she did not know the cause. It turned out that she had potted up
seedlings of it on the same bench she had earlier taken cuttings of her
variegated "Flowering Maples" earlier that day and the virus had infected
the other plants but expressed itself in a completely different way.

Virus infections in succulents express themselves as slowed or stunted
growth or leaves that are misshapen with spots of discoloration according
to Mayhew & Wiens (1994). It may be the cause of the discolored spots that
appears on some Sansevierias but there has been no study of this. There is
no cure or treatment for viral diseases other than propagating the plants
from seeds.

Mayhew, D.M. & Wiens, A.L. (1994) Viruses in Cacti and other Succulenets.
Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 66 (3): 117- 121, 5 figs.

The variegation that causes fawn-like spots and horizontal bands of light
green or white is genetically controlled by the genes in the plant's
nucleus and is a heritable trait. This type of variegation can be found in
a number of plants, the best known examples are the "Coleus", Caladium,
Diffenbachia and Aglaonema, among many others. While the inheritance of
this character has not yet been studied in detail for Sansevieria, it has
for several other genera.  In Aglaonema, the various patterns of
variegation are mutations of a single gene and it is dominant over
nonvariegated green leaves. Something similar may occur in Sansevieria. The
rapid appearance of new variegated cultivars does suggest that the traits
are dominant. Joyner & Wilson (1964) reported that banded leaves are a
dominant trait in artificial crosses between S.trifasciata X S.pearsonii
(S.deserti) and they suggest that more than one gene may control the trait.
In Sansevieria, these traits are heritable through both seeds and leaf
cuttings.

Henny, R.J. (1983) THE GENETIC BASIS OF FOLIAR VARIEGATION IN THREE
AGLAONEMA SPECIES. Foliage Digest 6 (11): 1-3, illus.

Henny, R.J. (1986) SINGLE LOCUS, MULTIALLELIC INHERITANCE OF FOLIAR
VARIEGATION IN AGLAONEMA. Journal of Heredity 77 (3): 214-215, 2 figs.

Joyner, J.F. & Wilson, F.D. (1964) DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS IN SANSEVIERIA.
INHERITANCE IN AN INTERSPECIFIC HYBRID. Journal of Heredity 55 (1): 39-43,
fig. 21.

The variegation of lengthwise bands of yellow or white on the leaves are
caused by chimera. It is not normally heritable through seeds or cuttings.
Chimeral variegation occurs when layers of albino cells with plastids
lacking the ability to produce chlorophyll replace the normal green ones in
the plant tissue. Since plant tissue consists of several layers of cells,
the bands of variegation can appear in a number of different ways. See the
articles by Juan Chahinian for a detailed discussion of how this occurs in
Sansevieria.

Chahinian, B.J. (1992-1994) THE VARIEGATED CORNER. The Sansevieria Journal
1 (1): 14-15 (1992); 1 (2): 29-31 (1992); 1 (3): 53-55 (1992); 1 (4): 75-77
(1992); 2 (1): 21-23 (1993); 2 (2): 46-47 (1993); 2 (3): 70-71 (1993); 2
(4): 92-93 (1993); 3 (1): 22-23 (1994); 3 (2): 46-47 (1994).

Chahinian, B.J. (1993) VARIEGATION IN CULTIVATED SANSEVIERIAS. Haseltonia
1: 45-54, 14 figs.

So in Sansevieria, we have two completely different types of variegation
working independently to produce a wide range of asthetically pleasing
patterns of leaf coloring and in combination, the possibilities are almost
unlimited.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
•Subject: Re: [SANS] variegated sansevierias
•From: "James W. Waddick"
•Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 07:17:48 -0500
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Hey all:
>So does anybody know what viruses in particular go after the Sans. to
>produce this wonderful variegation?
>
>Have a good one
>Tom
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index