African Spear Plant - Sansevieria Cylindrica

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A friend of mine gave me a whole bunch of cuttings and pups of Sansevierias this past year. When I first planted them, they didn't look like much, and I really couldn't tell them apart very well. But one of them has turned to be a spectacular standout - a Sansevieria Cylindrica, commonly called an African Spear Plant.

I planted a lot of them, all over the yard, but this spot was the right place for this plant. It's in an area that I call *The Outback* - sunnier than the rest of the yard, but it still gets a bit of shade from the olive tree in the afternoon.

If you've only seen these plants looking like, well, spears, you might be surprised at how they grow when given a chance. Once this plant established, it immediately started its growth pattern of radiating spears.

It has its own watering head (hidden behind the rocks back there), and it's planted on a slope with well-draining soil (a lot of sand). As you can see, the new growth starts in between its *fingers*. It's about three feet wide, and almost as tall, so you want to plant it where it will have room to spread. The tips aren't particularly sharp (like that agave on the left, which is deadly!), but you don't want to plant it where people might run into it.

I'm experimenting mostly, and I am pleased by this plant.

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