| Protologue: |
Journal of the Linnean Society-Botany 14: 549 (1875). |
| Subgenus: |
Paniculatus |
| Group: |
Sansevieria ehrenbergii |
| Etymology: |
This species honors Professor Christian G. Ehrenberg, a 19th century German biologist from the University of Berlin. |
| Distribution: |
Western Yemen, the Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, and northern Uganda. |
| Brief Description: |
This acaulescent, rhizomatous species forms dense stands of plants with 5 - 9 distichous, erect or spreading leaves that are laterally compressed with a groove along the upper face. The leaves are 76-180 cm long and 3-4.5 cm thick, yellow-green in color, and slightly rough. They have a sharp tip and 5 - 12 dark-green shallow grooves and a reddish-brown margin. The inflorescence is up to 200 cm tall, typically much shorter, and paniculate with 4 - 7 flowers per cluster. |
| Similar Species: |
Most of the cylindrical leaf species on the Arabian Peninsula southwards through East Africa once were considered Sansevieria ehrenbergii. Here, we parse these plants into different species. Sansevieria ehrenbergii is reserved for plants growing in western Yemen, the Sudan, and the Horn of Africa although it has not been reported from Somalia. It differs from other distichous species in the Sansevieria ehrenbergii group in terms of leaf size and color. |
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Sansevieria ehrenbergii west of Sana'a, Yemen.
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Sansevieria ehrenbergii in the Entebbe Botanical Garden in Uganda. These plants are propagated from material originally collected in northern Uganda.
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Sansevieria ehrenbergii in cultivation.
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