What Is the Lengua de Suegra Plant in English?

Lengua de suegra is the snake plant, and it also goes by mother-in-law’s tongue, an exact English twin of the Spanish name.1Plants For A Future. Sansevieria trifasciata Botanists now call it Dracaena trifasciata, though it was long known as Sansevieria trifasciata. One plant with a whole shelf of names is why searches, plant tags, and care guides can seem to describe different plants when they don’t.

The English Names You’ll See on Tags and in Stores

The banded green-and-yellow leaves look like snakeskin, which explains the snake plant name. Spanish has a matching sword name, since the plant is also called espada de San Jorge, the same idea as Saint George’s sword.6Architectural Digest. Dónde NO colocar la lengua de suegra para evitar la mala suerte, según el Feng Shui

The mother-in-law’s tongue name is a joke about a sharp tongue, because the leaf is long, pointed, and stiff. Some sellers avoid the name and use snake plant instead.

Many tags list a common name beside a scientific one, such as snake plant with Sansevieria or Dracaena trifasciata, and all of those are one plant. A tag that gives only a variety name, such as ‘Laurentii’ or ‘Zeylanica’, is still describing a snake plant; the variety just tells you which look you are getting. If a tag uses a name you don’t recognize, the scientific name in small print is the most reliable way to confirm what you are holding.

The Scientific Name and Why It Changed

For decades the plant was called Sansevieria trifasciata, and many labels still use that name.7Plants For A Future. Sansevieria trifasciata Sansevieria is the old scientific name for the group. Then DNA studies showed that the group sits inside the larger Dracaena family of plants.8PubMed. Plastid phylogenomics of the Sansevieria Clade of Dracaena (Asparagaceae) resolves a recent radiation Botanists merged them and renamed the plant Dracaena trifasciata, the current scientific name.9Phytotaxa. Sansevieria (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) is a herbaceous clade within Dracaena: inference from non-coding plastid and nuclear DNA sequence data The word trifasciata means three bands, a nod to the striped leaves.10CyberLeninka. OVERVIEW OF THE DISEASES OF DRACAENA TRIFASCIATA (ASPARAGALES: ASPARAGACEAE)

For shoppers, Sansevieria trifasciata and Dracaena trifasciata on a tag mean the same plant. Older books and many shops still use the first name. Care is identical whichever name appears, and you may find snake plant sold near other Dracaenas, such as corn plant.

How to Recognize a Snake Plant

The snake plant comes from rocky, seasonally dry West Africa, from Nigeria to the Congo.11Sansevieria Plant. Sansevieria Habitat: Where Snake Plants Grow in the Wild In the wild it grows in fast-draining stony soil with long dry seasons.12Sansevieria Plant. Sansevieria Habitat: Where Snake Plants Grow in the Wild That history explains its toughness. It also spreads by thick underground stems that send up new leaves.13Nature. Innovative in vitro shoot regeneration in variegated snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata cv. Laurentii) through utilization of light exposed single-node rhizome tissue

Leaves rise straight from the soil with no visible trunk, unlike most Dracaenas. They are thick and stiff, not floppy like a spider plant’s. Aloe looks fleshy and has spiny edges, which a snake plant lacks.

Leaves are dark green with lighter wavy crossbands, and some varieties add a yellow or cream edge. Each leaf ends in a point.

Typical forms stand upright in a cluster, and over time the leaves can reach a few feet tall in a pot. Shorter rosette forms stay low and wide. It grows slowly, so a plant bought small looks much the same for a long time.

Mature plants sometimes send up a flower spike.14The Spruce. How to Get a Snake Plant to Bloom Indoors The flowers open at night, bottom to top, with a vanilla or jasmine scent.15The Spruce. How to Get a Snake Plant to Bloom Indoors Blooms usually last two to three weeks.16The Spruce. How to Get a Snake Plant to Bloom Indoors

Is Lengua de Suegra Safe for Pets and Children

The leaves contain saponins, natural soap-like chemicals.17Lively Root. Snake Plants Toxicity to Cats, Dogs and Safe Alternatives Saponins irritate the lining of the gut.18Lively Root. Snake Plants Toxicity to Cats, Dogs and Safe Alternatives The plant also contains calcium oxalate, which irritates the mouth.19VI Seven International Multidisciplinary Congress. Literature review: Sansevieria trifasciata poisoning in dogs and cats A pet that chews a leaf may drool, vomit, or have diarrhea. A veterinary review warns that serious organ damage is possible if large amounts go untreated.20VI Seven International Multidisciplinary Congress. Literature review: Sansevieria trifasciata poisoning in dogs and cats

Watch for drooling, pawing at the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of appetite. Mouth irritation tends to show up quickly, while stomach upset may appear a little later. Any sign that gets worse or does not pass is a reason to contact a vet instead of watching at home.

If a pet or child chews the plant, remove any pieces from the mouth and rinse it. Call your vet or poison control, especially if vomiting continues, and note how much was eaten and when.

To prevent chewing, place the plant on a high shelf or in a room pets can’t enter. Check the leaves for bite marks. If your pet chews everything, a pet-safe plant like a spider plant is a better choice.

Does It Really Clean the Air

In sealed chambers, snake plants absorb formaldehyde, a common indoor pollutant.21PubMed Central. Removal of formaldehyde from indoor air by potted Sansevieria trifasciata plants: dynamic influence of physiological traits on the process In one chamber test it cut pollution by 35%, less than pothos at 52%.22International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. Effects of Pothos and Sansevieria Plants on Removing Indoor Air Pollutants Soil microbes and roots do much of the work, especially at night.23Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. Efficiency of Volatile Formaldehyde Removal by Indoor Plants: Contribution of Aerial Plant Parts versus the Root Zone So the pot and soil matter, not just the leaves.

Chamber results don’t show how a plant performs in a room with doors, windows, and air currents. Opening windows and ventilating remove far more pollution than a few plants, and reaching lab-style effects would take a dense crowd of plants.

A popular myth says the plant produces oxygen all night. It actually takes in carbon dioxide at night, storing it for daytime use, and its oxygen output is too small to change bedroom air. It is fine to keep in a bedroom, just not as an air machine. For real air problems, use ventilation or a filter.

How to Care for a Snake Plant

The plant opens its leaf pores at night to save water.24International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. Effects of Pothos and Sansevieria Plants on Removing Indoor Air Pollutants That lets it use water three to six times more efficiently than typical plants.25sansevieriaplant.com. Sansevieria Adaptations: How Snake Plants Survive Drought The same system makes it grow slowly.26sansevieriaplant.com. Sansevieria Adaptations: How Snake Plants Survive Drought So overwatering, not neglect, is what usually kills it.

Let the soil dry fully before watering. That usually means every two to three weeks in summer and monthly or less in winter. Water at the soil, never into the leaf center. To check, push a finger a couple of inches into the soil; if any of it feels damp, wait longer. A pot that feels light when lifted is a second clue. Soft, yellow, mushy leaves signal rot from too much water.

It tolerates low light but grows best in bright, indirect light. Use cactus mix or add grit for drainage, like its stony home, and choose a pot with a drainage hole.

Slow growth means the plant needs little fertilizer; a light feeding in the growing season is plenty. Repotting is rarely needed more than every few years, usually when roots crowd the pot.

To make more plants, divide the clump at the roots when repotting. Leaf cuttings root in water or soil, though cuttings from yellow-edged types often lose the yellow edge.

Lengua de Suegra in Feng Shui and Folk Use

Feng shui writers say its pointed leaves protect a space from negative energy.27Architectural Digest. Dónde NO colocar la lengua de suegra para evitar la mala suerte, según el Feng Shui Its upward growth is said to symbolize rising fortune and money.28CHICMagazine. Lengua de suegra: Dónde poner la planta para atraer la suerte y dinero So it is often placed near entrances or in offices. The belief is cultural and symbolic rather than something that can be measured. It is sometimes given half-jokingly between in-laws, and it makes a popular housewarming plant because it’s hard to kill.

The plant has practical uses too. Its strong white fiber was used for rope, nets, and bowstrings.29Journal of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Science. EXTRACTION AND PROXIMATE STUDY OF SANSEVIERIA TRIFASCIATA L. AS FIBRE SOURCE FOR TEXTILE AND OTHER USES It is also used as a traditional herbal remedy in some places.30Jurnal Biota. Safety Evaluation of Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) Leaves Extract as Potential Herbal Medicine Pain relief, however, has only been shown in animal tests, not in people.31PubMed Central. Analgesic and antipyretic effects of Sansevieria trifasciata leaves Given its toxicity, don’t eat or brew it as medicine.

Where It Grows Outdoors and Can Spread

It survives outdoors only where winters stay frost-free. Mild coastal and subtropical areas with no hard freezes are where it can live outside year-round. Even a brief hard freeze can damage the leaves, so areas with occasional frost are risky. If your winters ever dip below freezing, treat it as a houseplant or a seasonal outdoor pot.

In warm places it can escape. In Florida it has left gardens and grows wild in nine counties.32Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Slithering Toward Trouble: A Call for Regulatory Action for Florida’s Snake Plants There, keep it in pots and don’t dump divisions outdoors.