Nice find, Ryan. Easy to see why it's called "Starfish".

Tyler

Haven't seen one of those in my local nursery. Beautiful!!

Good purchase :)

Looks like well behaved var. of tubular Sans. I have cylindrica, and it is 'wild' with much skinnier and longer leaves - spears! - all over the place. It pups well, do not know if yours will too. My plant had few quite thick spears, all new growth is skinnier.

Ryan, what you have is a healthy, lovely Sansevieria Boncel. Rina points out correctly that it is indeed of the cylindrica type, which grows taller, skinnier and all over the place. In Thailand, where I think Boncel originated, the growers treat it with a retardant which makes it small and cute/chubby looking. If you Google "Sansevieria Boncel" and "Thailand" you can see some beautiful images.

I have bought two from a local grower here in FL who buys from overseas and propagates. One was very mature when I bought it. It had 9 leaves. Today, it has 14 leaves. All the leaves have grown tall (the largest is about 10" tall) and it has pupped twice. Both pups are in the process of growing now. They remain attached to the mother plant.

This can grow into a big plant. My mature plant has been repotted into a 10" pot and will soon be repotted into a 12" pot or larger. The less mature one has pupped twice, and one pup is now growing in his own pot. In my experience, the pups DO NOT stay small. They are skinnier and taller. For me, it has been hard to achieve or maintain that small/chubby look. Once I accidentally broke a leaf from the mature plant, stuck it in Turface for 2-3 months, and have propagated it into a new plant. These are beautiful plants which grow pretty fast. I recommend plastic pots (since these are strong enough to break the pots) and a well-draining soil with plenty of perlite or pumice, and some grit thrown in. Good luck, Ryan. You will enjoy your Boncel for years.

Thanks for everyone's input. I take care of lots of different types of sans. I take care of 'birds nest' 'cylindrical' 'moonshine' and those long ones I believe it's a trisfaciata. I have never taken one home before because the greenhouse I take care of them in has a much better climate than what I could have provided before now. This one had such a neat form I couldn't resist. I brought home one that has a "bird nest" type form today. It's variegated. I brought home a pup and will pot it up later. I don't mind if the terra cotta pot I put them in eventually breaks. I've also been known to break pots in order to get to certain plants in the past. Breaking a clay pot is easier to me than cutting off a hard plastic pot. There were several at Home Depot the same size as the starfish I brought home that has already put out pups. One even has two pups, so I won't be surprised if I see one soon. The sans. that I used to see in the landscape when I lived in Florida grew like weeds, and the ones that I have in the greenhouses I work in grow pretty fast too. We end up with so many that when we divide a mother plant it isn't uncommon for us to purge a bunch into the trash. My boss discovered this 'starfish' at HD and brought two into work, so as soon as I got off of work I went and grabbed one for myself. I'm glad I did since you say the pups won't be as cute. I'm sure I'll love them just the same. The clay pot I have my 'starfish' in right now is about a 7"-8" clay pot. I put it in a mix I use for my succulents which is roughly 60% pumice and 40% cactus potting mix. I'll get a picture of the little birds nest pup I brought home too and maybe someone can help me ID it better. The next sans I really want to bring home is a 'moonshine' when we divide one of the mother plants. I'm going to google image boncel and Thailand now like suggested.

As I know it's also called sansevieria cylindrica var. patula and mine was tagged as "samurai", boy was it hard to find its real name. :)

It's quite handsome. I've seen multiple Cylindricas in rosette form, but never a fan shape. So attractive, I might forgive it for getting big if I find one in my area. Makes me want to go check my HD!

My the sans. To the left of the picture is the birds nest pup I just brought home... Does anyone think they can Id it for me?

Those are amazing! Manuel, I see you live on the west side of NYC. Before I lived in California I lived on 83rd and 3rd Avenue. I used to take the 6 train into Union sq to go to school at the Carstens institute on the second floor above the Starbucks and McDonald's in Union sq. I was born in Huntington LI. I haven't been back into the city in years. I spend more time in San Francisco and LA now, I miss NYC though. My cousin lived in a building off of 55th across 8th Ave where the soup nazis shop use to be set up. That seems like so long ago now, it's been about 13 years..

I was born in Cuba, but grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island since I was 9 years old. Have lived in this apartment on 36th st and 10th avenue, right by the Lincoln Tunnel, for about 25 years. I don't do well with changes. Ironic to say this, but I like having roots. I only ever had one job since I was 17 and have been in this apt for 25 years. I live going to the plant market on that union square. My Sansevieria Boncels werenin better shape until the wind blew them off my fire escape. They ended up two flights down and suffered some damage. Even so, I can't get them to remain plump as when I first bought them

Hey Manuel,

Don't you think that pup coming out the drainage hole would like to come live w/ me? Maybe I could swap you something?

They sure are good looking.

Manuel, your Boncels are beautiful. I have grown used to having Boncels that are larger, like their Cylindrica family members. What interests me about yours is that almost all of your leaves have ridges. From the pictures, it looks like maybe the smaller plant in the middle doesn't, but all the others do. My large, mature plant has some leaves with ridges and some with smooth, but I have another Boncel that has only smooth leaves. I guess I don't think about it much, just try to care for and enjoy the plants. This is one of my favorite Sansevierias, both because of its looks and its rapid growth. Yours are lovely.

Karen R. Send me a private message with your address. I'd be happy to send it to you. No swap needed

Robin, the ridges were less pronounced when I bought them, because they were much more plump. They are commonly offered for sale here at the farmers market, and every time I see them, I feel like buying another one