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Sansevieria trifasciata

Riri

Snake Plant

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and flowers (cv 'Laurentii')	78KB
Image:	Leaves and flowers (basic form)	78KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Snake Plant, Bowstring Hemp, Angola Hemp, Mother-in-law's Tongue, Devil's-tongue, Good-luck Plant, Lucky Plant

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Riri (RR MK MT)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Nigeria

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves

KEY FEATURES: Stemless herb with erect swordlike leaves to 1m. LEAVES 1-6, to 100x10cm, mottled and banded light and dark green. FLOWERS small clusters along a spike to 75cm; pale green, to 3cm long. FRUIT 1-3 spheres; 1cmØ, ripen orange. var. 'Laurentii' margins white to yellow.

Enlarged Image of 'Sansevieria trifasciata'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	++++	+++	++	++?		P		-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	P	P	++	P	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Sansevieria trifasciata Hort. ex Prain
SYNONYMS: Sansevieria trifasciata var. trifasciata; Sansevieria trifasciata var. laurentii [yellow margins]; Sansevieria zeylanica [sensu GW]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Liliales; DRACAENACEAE. COMMENT: Formerly AGAVACEAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Stemless herb with erect sword-like leaves, to 1m. LEAVES 1-3(-6) basal, long-tapering, to 100x10cm, mottled and banded dark and light green. FLOWERS in clusters along a spike to 75cm; each pale green, 3cm long, fragrant. FRUIT 1-3 spherical segments; 1cmØ, ripen orange. Cv. 'Laurentii' with margins white to yellow.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: S.Carruthers garden, Muri (GMc&FS00). Pukapuka: informant report, 2/2004, to G.McCormack.

References:
p.207 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1003 Hortus 3rd
p.1038 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.609 Tropica
p.1/153 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.29 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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