Sansevieria Trifasciata has lots of names. Snake plant is probably the most neutral. For the others, pick a scary nemesis: mother in law, devil, djinn, make it possessive and add “tongue”. There’s bow string hemp, too. And St. George’s sword. Then there are all the variations in color and form, each with its own name…
Love them or hate them. They’re either bold, modern accents or ugly as demon’s tongues. Or mother in law’s, if you’re in that kind of relationship.
Our plants
These were a gift from friends who moved out of a mid-century modern home. The plants found themselves orphaned, no longer part of the lifestyle. Abandoned in a rush to contemporary suburbia, they landed here in our home for unwanted plants. Well, interesting ones anyway.
Botanical Stuff
On the plant geek side, they’re related to asparagus (but don’t eat them!), use crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) to grow fast and suck in carbon dioxide at night, a good thing for plants in the bedroom. They also absorb toxins from the air, another good thing for a bedroom house plant.
Fragrance
The fun thing is they’re pollinated by moths in their native West Africa, so their flowers are fragrant at night. It seems they need bright light to produce them, however. Plants kept too dark didn’t flower for us.
Annette likes the fragrance, likening it to a tuberose. I don’t think it’s as sweet, and can’t think of anything similar. Intriguing. Do I like this perfume or not? It doesn’t make me sneeze or my nose run, so it stays.
Culture
Other than their love / hate appearance, they’re known for being tough. They grow in deep shade (no flowers) to rather bright sun – these get hours of direct morning sun – and very little water. Overwatering is the thing that will kill them, along with frost.
In compatible climates, they form large clumps outside. As house plants, with light and proper watering, they grow anywhere there’s light.
Proper watering is soak them, preferably until water comes out of the pot. Then forget them for a long time. The soil should dry out thoroughly between waterings. You can use a bit of liquid fertilizer if you like. Maybe you get more flowers that way.