Sansevieria masoniana - Mason's Congo

Sansevieria masoniana (Mason's Congo) - This semi-succulent plant with wonderful, long, 8-10 inches wide, dark green leaves with smudged, light green spots and a unique purple-banded sheath (often below soil level). Excellent as a large houseplant, tolerating low light levels and infrequent irrigation. On occasion if grown in bright light (we have only seen it once in our nursery) it forms a stalk of white flower clusters arising from center of the plant. Hardy to at least 30° F if kept dry or in a very well drained soil. The wide, stiff, waxy, mottled leaves will grow quite large if given the room; there are reports of it getting to 6 feet tall though we have yet to see it quite this big - usually seen at 3 to 4 feet in height and younger nursery plants that are regularly divided often remain around 2 feet and not vertically inclined for several years before new taller leaves emerge. This plant was collected in what was called the Belgian Congo (then Zaire and now Democratic Republic of the Congo) by Maurice Mason, a renowned plant collector from of Norfolk, England. It was originally introduced as Sansevieria 'Mason's Congo' but was described in 2000 by Juan Chahinian as a species in the Cactus and Succulent Society of America Journal (Volume 72(1). The description above is based on our research and observations of this plant growing in our nursery and garden. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has additional information or disagrees with what we have written.