You've got it. The rhizome that has sent up a bloom stalk will not send up another. Exception: some cultivars will send up more than one blm.slk. per rhizome. The rhizome that has bloomed is now reproducing. Some are very vigorous, producing lots of babies that grow to blooming size quickly (Thornbird is one). Others may produce only 1-3 babies. Mine take at least 2 years to grow large enuf to bloom. When the babies have established their own root systems the mother rhizome withers away and dies. When you dig one up you will see pinholes on the bottom where roots used to be.

I love this mystery about S. guineensis, which should never be confused with trifasciata. Here's my fantasy. In the 18th or early 19th century at least one species of sans was grown in Africa as a crop to produce hemp and was called guineensis, maybe by the natives. So guineensis may be a corruption of some African word, but it's not a valid species name for any sansevieria. Anyway these plants were taken to the Americas and grown for the same reason. The hemp species may have been hyacinthoides or metallica or probably both, The plants escaped and "went native" in FL and south throughout the Caribbean to Brazil. I think some of the variegated plants like 'White Striped Giant' are metallica, but Juan Chahinian disagrees because the rhizomes are orange not red like N.E. Brown described. My theory is that 200 years of cultivation resulted in orange rhizomes. Hermine may have a different opinion, but this is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hi, sorry to intrude from someone who's so far away here in Indonesia, but I thought this forum is quite interesting. If you're a fan of sans...you should all move to Indonesia...no, only joking he..he.. But honestly, try visit Indonesia once in a while and you'll really discover how many varieties there are so much available here (and mind you...quite cheap, at least for the moment!). I've only been serious about sans for the past year or so and I've got about 30 varieties already. That's not much considering that there are about 130 var (or so I've read from local books here). I tend to use burnt peat/rice husks + compost + rough (large granuled) sand as media cause it keeps it from being too damp. Only water them when the media's pretty dry (being in the tropics, I water them once a week) and repot these beauties once a year. Also, I fertilize only when I remember, say once a year. The thing that I adore about sans is that the young ones have the ability to mutate and appear different to the parent. For me, the easiest sans to grow is S. trifasciata and golden hahnii, the hardest by far is the S. gracilis (gorgeous plant (at least to me), been with me for 3 yrs but no offspring yet) and the twister tsunami (lovely name huh...the leaves are similar to golden hahni but larger and they twist and turn..hence the name). Bought myself a green jade yesterday (for a mere USD 1) and found out this morning that a pup has just broken ground. Ain't that grand (when the mother still looks way too young). I'll try to post some pics once I got my camera going...

Hiya Norma, Thanks for your efforts, interesting stuff. I liked that paragraph you wrote exactly 'cause it spoke so well about diversity of habitat in which Sans can be found. Thanks for allowing its use, I hope to incorporating it into my talk (w/ credit of course). I can't check you for accurancy, wouldn't begin to know where to look & have no access to the reference materials it sounds like you do. I know you well enough to know you when you try & share info. on GW, you give it your very best, that's certainly good enough for me! The talk I'm planning on giving will be much more general in nature & scope, esp. 'cause I'll be speaking to Indoor Gardening group (much more 'Houseplanty' type growers). I imagine they're NYC apmt dwellers for the most part, maybe have the ocassional summer home, certainly no greenhouses. Specifically, they're not succulent types (tho' I know number of members who also belong to the local C&S Society). I'll be bring in 1/2 dozen or so, as will other members, my main goal is to showcase lots of diff. Sans to folks who may only be familiar with the ubiquitous S. trifasciata laurentii (w/ its yellow stripe, that I particlarly dislike). I'll be taking: S. pinguicula (beauty that Jeff brought me 2 yrs. ago) w/ its rosette on a stolon S. Hi Silver (name uncertain, but given me by a very knowledgeable member collector, sadly now passed away); lovely rosette of long, graceful, slender, arching leaves S. cylindrica (deliberately small & young) showing they can be contained in a small space S. moonshine, small young, not spectacular, but shows its pretty, pale color S. patens (undergoing strange changes after 5-6 yrs. of doing nothing, threw a pup a month ago, growing like crazy, yet the parent plant fan is loosing a couple of leaves, just had to twist off an ailing portion of it tonight). I turned it out last wknd to check the roots, maybe lost some, but the pup is going gangbusters & looks entirely diff. than parent. The pup came up a paddle-shaped leaf as flat as a sheet of paper. Wonderful example of the juvenile growth having a diff. form that the parent Couple w/ guessed IDs: S. concinna (one of my favorite forms) S. socotra (those exposed rhizomes w/ long petioles ending in smallish spoon shaped leaves) S. hallii (small baseball bat) couple no IDs w/ thick, long cylindrical leaves w/ ridges that curve backwards a no ID short rosette, solid green leaves, wavy ruffled edges, rust edges, very pretty. Friends expect to be bringing (a few at least that I know of): S. bantel's sensation, a mature (one of my all time faves, would love to find some) S. unknown (from Kew, I hear it's very dark, almost black) whatever else other members bring to show &/or ask about. That's it for now, thanks again Norma. Hugs back attcha, Karen