Dracaena, formerly Sansevieria

Snake Plants & Sansevierias

Thirteen distinct cultivars, from the common green to the whale fin.

Sansevieria is the plant we sell more of than anything else, and the one people most often buy blind — a shop says "snake plant" and that is the whole description. There are thirteen genuinely different cultivars on this bench, and they are not interchangeable. Leaf shape runs from flat blades to rigid cylinders to a single paddle the width of your hand; height runs from fifteen centimetres to a metre and a half.

They were moved out of the genus Sansevieria into Dracaena in 2017. Both names are still in everyday use in the trade here, so we list both.

What they share is the reason they are worth owning: they tolerate low light, they tolerate being forgotten, and they are among the few plants that genuinely do something for indoor air. What kills them is watering on a schedule through winter.

Choosing between them

They are not interchangeable

By leaf shape

Flat upright blades (Laurentii, Zeylanica, Futura Robusta, Moonshine) are the classic look. Cylindrica is round in cross-section and can be braided. Boncel fans out like a starfish. Masoniana is a single enormous paddle — a specimen plant, not a filler.

By height

Hahnii stays under 20 cm and suits a desk or a shelf. Most of the trifasciata cultivars settle around 60–90 cm. Zeylanica and Masoniana will pass a metre in a big pot.

By colour

Laurentii has the yellow margin, Moonshine is a flat silver-green with no banding at all, Black Coppertone runs deep bronze in strong light, and Futura Robusta is a shorter, wider, more strongly banded green.

All 14 side by side

Every one is a separate plant on our own bench, with its own photographs.

Snake Plants & Sansevierias compared by botanical name, size and price
Variety	Botanical name	Mature size	Light	From
Snake Plant	Dracaena trifasciata	60–100 cm	Low light	Rs 1,300
White Variegated Snake Plant	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Bantel’s Sensation’	70–110 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 3,350
Black Variegated Snake Plant	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Gold’	60–90 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 2,800
Sansevieria Moonshine	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Moonshine’	45–70 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 3,000
Sansevieria Fernwood	Dracaena ‘Fernwood Mikado’	50–80 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 2,450
Sansevieria Boncel (Starfish)	Dracaena ‘Boncel’	20–30 cm	Bright light	Rs 2,050
Sansevieria Kirkii	Dracaena pethera (Sansevieria kirkii)	40–60 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 4,850
Sansevieria Masoniana (Whale Fin)	Dracaena masoniana	60 cm – 1.2 m tall, single leaf 20–25 cm wide	Bright indirect light	Rs 5,050
Dwarf Sansevieria (Hahnii)	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Hahnii’	15–20 cm	Desk	Rs 1,050
Snake Plant Laurentii	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Laurentii’	70–100 cm	Low light	Rs 1,700
Sansevieria Cylindrica	Dracaena angolensis	60–90 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 2,250
Sansevieria Zeylanica	Dracaena zeylanica	60–90 cm	Low light	Rs 1,200
Sansevieria Futura Robusta	Dracaena trifasciata ‘Futura Robusta’	30–40 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 1,500
Sansevieria Black Coppertone	Dracaena hallii ‘Black Coppertone’	25–40 cm tall, spreading 45 cm	Bright indirect light	Rs 4,500