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Accepted Scientific Name: Sansevieria stuckyi God.-Leb.
Sansev. Gigant. Afr. Orient. 13 - 17 - 33, ills. 1861
The juvenile leaves are flat to involute, bending grey-green with dark green cross stripes.
Origin and Habitat: Sansevieria stuckyiSN|32483]]SN|32483]] is native to equatorial Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. Also in South Africa. In Zimbabwe now locally extinct in natural habitats and not found in the wild. Introduced into Eastern Asia (Ogasawara-shoto).
Synonyms:
- Sansevieria stuckyi God.-Leb.
- Acyntha stuckyi (God.-Leb.) Chiov.
Sansevieria stuckyi God.-Leb.
Sansev. Gigant. Afr. Orient. 13 - 17 - 33, ills. 1861
Synonymy: 3
- Sansevieria stuckyi God.-Leb.
- Acyntha stuckyi (God.-Leb.) Chiov.
- Sansevieria andradae God.-Leb. ex Gérôme
ENGLISH: Elephant Tusks
THAI (ภาษาไทย): ว่านงาช้าง
Description: Sansevieria stuckyi, is a perennial, acaulescent, rhizomatous herb with tall terete (cylindrical) leaves that point upright, up to a height of approximately 2 metres depending on light and moisture availability. The inflorescences occur in spring or autumn, and bear fragrant, yellow-white flowers. Sansevieria stuckyiSN|32483]]SN|32483]] has been known to botanists and botanical gardens since late 1700s, it differs from Sansevieria fischeri by having more than one leaf per stem with a wide continuous channel from base to apex. The inflorescence arises between the leaves and is usually more racemose-capitate than in S. fischeri, which forms a wide crown on a rather long peduncle.
Derivation of speciefic name: “stuckyi” For a Mr. Stucky (fl. 1861).
Rhizome: Subterranean, thick, trailing almost cylindrical, up to 5 cm in diameter.
Leaves: S. stuckyi has two life forms: juvenile and adult. The juvenile leaves are flat to involute, bending grey-green with dark green cross stripes. The juvenile phase lasts from four to six years depending on climatic conditions. The adult leaves are 1–2 ( rarely 3 ) in irregular rosettes, leathery, fleshy, stiffly erect, cylindrical, circular in cross-section, grooved, 120–275 cm long, (2.9–)3.8–6.3 cm thick at base, slightly rough, very fibrous. Apical spine pale brown, 0.4 cm long, horny, hardly piercing. Channel with acute green edges from base to apex, 0.4–0.8 cm deep, 6–3.3 cm broad at base but 1–1.7 cm broad near the apex. Slightly rugose, dull green, faintly banded with 6–20 longitudinal lines, and coated with thick layers of wax (slightly glaucous).
Inflorescence: Emerging at the basal side of the leaf rosettes, erect, crowded, corymbose-capitate, 5–32 cm long, peduncle 0.5–0.7 cm wide purple specled green. Raceme 7x 34 cm dense. flowers 1–3, erect, hardly in clusters; lower inflorescence bracts 4, purple, broadly lanceolate, 3.5–6 cm long; bracteoles greyish green, 0.7–1.3 cm long, membranous; pedicels 1.1–1.5 cm, loosely jointed at base.
Flower: Perianth 7.5–12.5 cm long, 0.3 cm wide, thickened at base to 0.5 cm, the lower flowers (outmost) are shorter, purple speckled with green. Tube 8–10 cm long, lobes grey-white, linear, 3–3.5 cm long, rolled. Stamens 8–8.5 cm long. Anthers 0.4 cm long. Style 8–15 cm long.
Blooming season: Spring or autumn. Flowers are rarely if ever seen in cultivation.
Fruit: A globose berry.
Chromosome number: 2n= 116
Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Timberlake, J.R. & Martins, E.S. “Flora Zambesiaca” 13(2): 1-83. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2010
2) Mwachala, G. & Mbugua, P.K. “Dracaenaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa” 1-43. 2007.
3) Eggli, U. “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons” 1-354. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. 2001
4) Thulin, M. “Flora of Somalia” 4: 1-298. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1995
5) Kobayashi, S. & Ono, M. “A Revised List of Vascular Plants Indigenous and Introduced to the Bonin (Ogasawara) and the Volcano (Kazan) Islands.” Ogasawara Research 13: 1-55. 1987
6) Godefroy-Lebeuf, A. “Original publication of Sansevieria stuckyi.” Or., 1903.
7) Mwachala, G. & Mbugua, P.K. “Flora of tropical East Africa. Dracaenaceae”. 43p (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for the East African Governments: Kew, 2007
8) “Sansevieria stuckyi” In: eMonocot.An online resource for monocot plants. <http://e-monocot.org/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:279550>. Retrieved on 31 January 2016
9) Zdenek Jezek and Libor Kunte “The Complete Encyclopedia of Succulents” 2009
10) Wikipedia contributors. "Sansevieria stuckyi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
11) Shahina A. Ghazanfar, Henk Beentje, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew “Taxonomy and ecology of African plants, their conservation and sustainable use: proceedings of the 17th AETFAT Congress, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia” Kew Pub., 2006
12) “The Society of Malaŵi Journal,” The Society, 1978
13) Brown, N.E. “Sansevieria. A monograph of all the known species.” Bulletin of
Miscellaneous Information XXI Kew Gardens. 1915
14) Chahinian, “In praise of Sansevieria.” J. Int., Sansevieria Soc. 1:1-5. 2001
15) Martin Aarseth-Hansen, Jette Dahl Møller, Jørgen Damgaard and Arne Skytt Andersen “Sansevieria stuckyi Potential as Potted Plant” Proc. 5th International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops. Eds.: A.F.C. Tombolato and G.M. Dias-Tagliacozzo Acta Hort. 683, ISHS 2005
16) la Croix, I. “Dracaenaceae Flora Zambesiaca” 13(2) Pages 34 – 35 2010
17) Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton “Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names” Springer Science & Business Media, 29 June 2013
Cultivation and Propagation: Sansevieria stuckyiSN|32483]]SN|32483]] are easy to cultivate but very slow growing. S. stuckyi can tolerate shade, heat and dry conditions and grows well in almost any collection. Will thrive on any soil, under any light intensity and with any amount of water. Can be wintered in a warm or cool environment with extremely rare watering.
Soil: Use a soil mix consisting of 3 parts loam to 1 part of pumice. Always underpot sansevierias.
Moisture requirements: The plants are very drought tolerant and are watered about every other week during the growing season. During the winter months they are watered once a month. Water sparingly and not at all as temperatures dip in winter but can tolerate going months between watering.
Fertilization: They are fertilized once during the growing season with a balanced fertilizer.
Light requirements: Will tolerate low light levels but grows best and flowers if given bright light and even tolerates full sun. In the garden In mild to tropical climates it prefers semishade or shade and it is not fussy.
Hardness: Sansevieria stuckyiSN|32483]]SN|32483]] is not hardy and it is best to avoid freezing temperatures. If growing outdoors in frost free areas keep in a covered patio or under an area where plants do not receive winter rainfall.
Heat Tolerance: Excellent.
Propagation: Sansevierias are propagated by cuttings or by divisions taken at any time. Cuttings should be at least 10 cm long and inserted in moist sand. A rhizome will emerge at the cut edge of the leaf.
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