Snake plant
സർപ്പപ്പോളড্রাসিনা ট্রাইফাসিয়াটা
Sansevieria trifasciata
Kew's current name: Dracaena trifasciata (Prain) Mabb.
- light
- Part sun
- water
- Little
- tall
- —
- wide
- —
Asparagaceae
Also called Snake Plant, Mother-in-law's Tongue, Snakeplant, Viper's bowstring hemp, Saint George's sword
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- S. Nigeria to WC. Trop. Africa, TanzaniaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade (3 to 6 h)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- White, greenRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension green, white; Wikipedia cream, green, white
- Coldest it survives
- -1.1 °C (USDA zone 10a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: height, spread, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Espada africana, Lengua de Suegra, Lengua de Vaca
- Portuguese
- Lingua de Sogra, espada-de-são-jorge, espada-de-santa-bárbara
- French
- Langue de Belle-mere
- German
- Bogenhanf, Schwiegermutterzunge
- Chinese
- 虎尾蘭, 金邊虎尾蘭, 虎尾兰
- Japanese
- サンセベリア, アツバチトセラン
- Chinese (China)
- 虎皮兰, 虎尾兰
- Czech
- tenura trojžilná
- Russian
- Сансевиерия трёхполосная
- Afrikaans
- Skoonma-se-tong
- Catalan
- Sansevièria
- Italian
- Sanseveria
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Sansevieria trifasciata (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.