TY  - JOUR
A1  - Scharf, Uwe
A1  - Burkart, Michael
T1  - Sansevieria pfennigii (Ruscaceae, Asparagales)
BT  - Confirmation of existence, emendation of description, and tentative threat assessment
JF  - Phytotaxa : a rapid international journal for accelerating the publication of botanical taxonomy
N2  - Sansevieria pfennigii, which to date has been a doubtful species, is confirmed as extant by a recent collection from the Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. The original description of the species, which is based on herbarium material only, is here emended based on additional observations recorded from living plants, including fruits that were previously unknown. Sansevieria pfennigii distinguishes from S. canaliculata, to which it was repeatedly assigned, by its capitate instead of elongate inflorescence, rough rather than smooth leaves, non-pungent instead of pungent leaf tips, dull green leaf colour, more delicate overall appearance, alongside other traits. The difference in inflorescence architecture indicates that these species belong to different groups within Sansevieria and are not closely related; the closest relatives of S. pfennigii are probably S. fischeri and S. stuckyi. Sansevieria pfennigii occurs on well-drained soil in forests, close to S. canaliculata populations. According to the extent of the population seen and the species' overall rarity, it is tentatively assessed as critically endangered.
KW  - Ruscaceae
KW  - Asparagales
KW  - Monocots
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.483.1.1
SN  - 1179-3155
SN  - 1179-3163
VL  - 483
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 8
PB  - Magnolia Press
CY  - Auckland
ER  -