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Sansevieria

 
Sansevieria

 
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Sansevieria
 
 
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Sansevieria whose common names include: mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue, and snake plant, is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s in the family Ruscaceae
Ruscaceae

Ruscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales that includes several genera previously included in the Liliaceae, for example in the Cronquist system....
, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World
Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
.

They are xerophytic
Xerophyte

A xerophyte or xerophytic organism is a plant which is able to survive in an environment with little available water or moisture, usually in environments where potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation for all or part of the growing season....
 herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 to shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
by succulent
Succulent plant

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climate or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaf, Plant stem and/or roots....
 perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s with evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 strap-shaped leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, growing to 20 cm to 3 m tall, often forming dense clumps from a spreading rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
 or stolon
Stolon

Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
s. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are greenish-white, produced on a simple or branched raceme
Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
 40-90 cm long.






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Sansevieria whose common names include: mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue, and snake plant, is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s in the family Ruscaceae
Ruscaceae

Ruscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales that includes several genera previously included in the Liliaceae, for example in the Cronquist system....
, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World
Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
.

They are xerophytic
Xerophyte

A xerophyte or xerophytic organism is a plant which is able to survive in an environment with little available water or moisture, usually in environments where potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation for all or part of the growing season....
 herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 to shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
by succulent
Succulent plant

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climate or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaf, Plant stem and/or roots....
 perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s with evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 strap-shaped leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, growing to 20 cm to 3 m tall, often forming dense clumps from a spreading rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
 or stolon
Stolon

Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
s. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are greenish-white, produced on a simple or branched raceme
Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
 40-90 cm long. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a red or orange berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
.

The genus was named in honor of Raimondo di Sangro
Raimondo di Sangro

Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero was an Italian nobleman, inventor, soldier, writer and scientist, best remembered for his reconstruction of the Cappella_Sansevero in Naples....
 (1710-1771), prince of San Severo
San Severo

San Severo is a city and comune of the province of Foggia in the southern Italy region of Apulia.It rises on the foot of the spur of Gargano and is cathedral city since 1580....
 in Italy. Spellings "Sanseveria" and "Sanseviera" are commonly seen as well, the confusion deriving from alternate spellings of the Italian place name.

Uses

In Africa, the leaves are used for fibre production; in some species, e.g. Sansevieria ehrenbergii
Sansevieria ehrenbergii

Sansevieria ehrenbergii is a flowering plant which grows in northeastern Africa from Libya south to Tanzania,Oman and also in Saudi Arabia....
, the plant's sap has antiseptic qualities, and the leaves are used for bandages in traditional first aid
First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by a layman to a sick or injured Casualty until definitive medical treatment can be accessed....
.

Several species are popular houseplant
Houseplant

A houseplant is a plant that is grown indoors in places such as House and offices. Houseplants are commonly grown for decorative purposes and health reasons such as indoor air purification....
s in temperate regions, with Sansevieria trifasciata
Sansevieria trifasciata

Sansevieria trifasciata is a species of Sansevieria, native to tropical west Africa from Nigeria east to the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
 the most widely sold; numerous cultivar
Cultivar

A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when Plant propagation it retains those characteristics....
s are available.