Sansevieria pearsonii spreading

This well established stand of Sansevieria pearsonii growing in the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden at Worcester was photographed in June, the Western Cape rainy season. The leaves are bright green here, looking well.

This time of year their counterparts in natural habitat, i.e. north-eastern South Africa, mainly Limpopo and Mpumalanga, will appear just slightly down, waiting for summer rain. The plant occurs widespread in southern Africa’s hot, arid regions. The habitat is dry wooded grassland in sandy soil.

Spreading vigorously by underground rhizomes that run horizontally and produce tufts of leaves above-ground intermittently, one plant appears like a colony of plants given sufficient time (Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).