Sansevieria.
Some place the Sansevieria genus in the Dracaenaceae family with Dracaena.
The APG 3 and 4 have Dracaena, Liriope, Nolina and Sansevieria in subfamily Nolinoideae of the Asparagaceae family.
As a separate genus Sansevieria has around 70 species with many being from Africa and Madagascar.
They are perennial clumping herbs with short, thick underground rhizomes (underground stem) or stolons
(above ground stems) that produce offsets or shoot at the nodes respectively.
Most have no stem but some have a very short one.
Each node has only a few leaves that are usually alternately arranged in a basal rosette but some have
leaves in 2 ranks (distichous).
The leaves can be thick, succulent and often cylindrical as in dry climate species or wide and flat as
in tropical species.
The leaves are patterned by lines, bands or blotches in shades of green and sometimes white or yellow.
Axillary inflorescences may be branched or unbranched and the leaf at the base may be reduced to a small scale.
In it the flowers may be solitary or in small clusters with the number of flowers depending on the species.
Flowers are on jointed pedicels with a thin membranous bracteole at the base.
Flowers open at the base of the inflorescence first and each only lasts 24 hours.
The perianth has 6 tepals with their bases forming a tube and the narrow lobes widely spreading or curved back.
Most are white or greenish-white but others are shades of pink or brownish.
The 6 stamens, on thin filaments extend past the perianth.
The superior ovary has 3 locules each with one ovule and a thin style about as long as the stamens.
The fruit are berries that are commonly orange or red and have 1 to 3 hard seeds.
J.F.
