page_title: Sansevieria
section_title: Ornamental purposes
hierarchical_section_title: Sansevieria / Uses / Ornamental purposes
caption_attribution_description: Sansevieria trifasciata English: This plant is called "Snake plant" or "Mother-in-Law's tongue" in English.Français&#160;: «&#160;plante serpent&#160;» ou «&#160;Langue de belle-mère&#160;»Svenska: Svärmors tunga, Bajonettlilja.
context_page_description: Sansevieria is a historically recognized genus of flowering plants, native to Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia, now included in the genus Dracaena on the basis of molecular phylogenetic studies. Common names for the 70 or so species formerly placed in the genus include mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue, jinn's tongue, bow string hemp, snake plant and snake tongue. In the APG III classification system, Dracaena is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae. It has also been placed in the former family Dracaenaceae.
context_section_description: Several former Sansevieria species are popular houseplants in temperate regions, with Dracaena trifasciata the most widely sold; numerous cultivars are available. In China, the plant is usually kept potted in a pot often ornamented with dragons and phoenixes. Growth is comparatively slow and the plant will last for many years. There are two main varieties: wild type sansevierias have stiff, erect, scattered, lance-shaped leaves while the bird's nest sansevierias grow in rosettes. As houseplants, sansevierias thrive on warmth and bright light, but will also tolerate shade. They can rot from over-watering, so it is important that they are potted in well-drained soil, and not over-watered.  They need to be re-potted or split at the root from time to time because they will sometimes grow so large that they break the pot they are growing in.
  In Korea, potted sansevierias are commonly presented as a gift during opening ceremonies of businesses or other auspicious events.
  In Barbados, sansevieria is also popularly referred to as the "money plant", with the belief that the person having it will always have money.  The belief seems to be based on an association of the color (green) with the US bills.
  Other former Sansevieria species are less common in cultivation. Another species is Sansevieria cylindrica, which has leaves which look quite different from D. trifasciata, but is equally tough.
  Plants can be propagated by seed, leaf-cutting, and division. Seeds are rarely used, as plants can normally be grown much faster from cuttings or divisions. As many cultivars are periclinal chimeras, they do not come true to type from leaf cuttings, and therefore must be propagated by rhizome division to retain the variegation.
caption: A variegated cultivar of Dracaena trifasciata (namely 'Laurentii'), the most common species in cultivation
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