Sansevieria 'Alice' - A tall robust succulent plant to 3 to 4 feet tall with a tight clump of many vertically inclined dark green leaves with lighter gray-green zig-zag horizontal bands. We have not seen this cultivar flower.
Will tolerate low light levels but grows best and flowers if given bright light and even tolerates full sun. Hardy to 30-32° F. Water sparingly and not at all as temperatures dip in winter, particularly if growing outdoors - can tolerate going months between watering and if grown outdoors in California does need to be kept under an eave or some other protection from winter rainfall and cold. A nice large container plant for interior or exterior use that needs little care.
This plant is a hybrid between the more common Mother-in-law's tongue, Sansevieria trifasciata, which has upright flat sword-like leaves and the more rounded leafed Sansevieria ehrenbergii, which typically holds its mature leaves in a stacked fan shaped cluster. Our original plant came from the collection of Sansevieria collector Alice Waidhofer.
The name for the genus was originally Sanseverinia as named by the Italian botanist Vincenzo Petagna in honor of his patron, Pietro Antonio Sanseverino, the Count of Chiaromonte (1724-1771), but the name was altered for unknown reasons by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, possibly influenced by the name of Raimondo di Sangro (1710–1771), prince of San Severo in Italy. The spellings "Sanseveria" and "Sanseviera" are also commonly seen. These plants are also sometimes commonly called Snakeplants.
The information about Sansevieria 'Alice' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |