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Dracaena hanningtonii

Sansevieria ehrenbergii

Also called Blue Sansevieria, Dracaena, Dragon Trees

Dracaena hanningtonii
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0

Dracaena hanningtonii (synonym Sansevieria ehrenbergii), blue sansevieria, is a succulent-leaved plant from dry eastern Africa and Arabia that forms dense clusters of dark green sword-shaped leaves. It needs strong light and very sparing watering, as it is drought tolerant and rots in wet soil.

Family
Asparagaceae (Asparagus family)
Light
Full sun, Bright indirect
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Fast-draining sandy or cactus-type potting mix.
Temperature
18–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy

About

Dracaena hanningtonii, synonym Sansevieria ehrenbergii, (blue sansevieria, sword sansevieria, oldupai, or East African wild sisal) is a flowering plant which grows in northeastern and eastern tropical Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania) and the Arabian Peninsula (Oman and Saudi Arabia). It occurs notably in proliferation along the Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania.

Uses

The Maasai have used Dracaena hanningtonii for antiseptics, natural bandages, rope, baskets, roofs and clothes. They were also useful for stitching and sewing as well as patching and repairing leatherwork. To make the rope, the leaves were cut, then taken and left to soak in water until the outer layer had split and rotted down which would allow it to be easily separated from the fibrous matter inside. They were then removed from the water and taken to a hard flat surface to be beaten with heavy clubs until the fibres were loosened. The fibrous material was then extracted, separated into strands and worked into cordage of various thicknesses. Fibres from the D. hanningtonii were short but very strong threads which were popular when making slingshots

Other Dracaena plants

Suji · Tree Dracaena · Lance Dracaena · Dracaena bacularis · Lucky Bamboo · Socotra dragontree · Dracaena concinna · Canary Island Dragon Tree · Fragrant dracaena · Zebra Striped Dragon Tree · Iguanatail · Dracaena pethera

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dracaena hanningtonii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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