House Plant Index
SNAKE PLANT
BOWSTRING HEMP
Sansevieria zeylanica
| Flowers |
Summer |
| Potting or re-potting time |
Whenever necessary |
| Position in garden during summer |
Light shade |
| Potting Mixture |
3 |
Snake plant or bowstring hemp is a member of the Lilly family and widely grown as a houseplant. It ranks high among plants, which will thrive with little sun, and less care. The long, narrow, often variegated and banded leaves are familiar -to almost everyone. Not everybody, however, is aware that the snake plant has flowers. They are born in spikes on tall leafless stalks and are greenish-white or pale yellow in color, usually appearing sometime in August. Before flowering the plant must be well established and its roots cramped in the container. Plants which are not pot bound seldom blossom.
S. thyrsiflora is also a common houseplant. Its leaves are much wider than those of S. zeylanica and are banded with yellow.
Both species are easily propagated in the spring by divisions Of the rootstalks or by cutting the leaves into 3-inch lengths and planting them in sand.
Will grow under almost any conditions except freezing. |
