Stiff as a ruler, banded green like a snake's skin and so undemanding that it easily survives weeks of holiday. If you're just getting started with houseplants, you're in the right place.

What it does for you

The snake plant is a succulent: it stores water in its thick leaves and uses CAM photosynthesis – it opens its stomata mainly at night and so loses hardly any water during the day¹. For you, that means: it forgives forgotten watering like hardly any other plant. For the same reason, though, it adds hardly anything to the humidity².

What it really can do: make your home greener and cosier. Just handling houseplants – repotting, say – lowered stress markers such as diastolic blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity in one small study³.

Origin & history

The snake plant comes from tropical West and Central Africa – from Nigeria via Cameroon and Gabon to the Congo, with scattered occurrences as far as Tanzania⁶. Its relatives there live in habitats ranging from dry areas with less than 250 millimetres of rain a year to humid forests⁷.

For decades it was called Sansevieria trifasciata. Since DNA analyses showed that the sansevierias are nested right within the dragon trees (Dracaena), its official name is Dracaena trifasciata⁸. And why is it also called bowstring hemp? In Africa and India, the tough leaf fibres of various sansevierias were made into bowstrings, cords and mats; in the Second World War the USA even tested the snake plant as a substitute for sisal⁷.

Caution

The snake plant contains saponins. For cats and dogs it is toxic: if they nibble on it, it can lead to nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea⁹. The RHS calls it poisonous and advises keeping it out of reach of children and pets. The sap can irritate the skin – best wear gloves when dividing or cutting¹⁰.

Care

Light. Ideally bright, without harsh midday sun in summer. In darker corners it grows only very slowly¹⁰.

Water. Better too little than too much: only water once the soil has dried out completely (finger test all the way down) – as a rule of thumb every two to three weeks in summer, often only once a month in winter. Water onto the soil, not into the leaf rosette, and tip away water in the cachepot to avoid waterlogging.

Temperature & humidity. 15–24 °C is ideal¹⁰; the RHS gives a minimum of 5–10 °C, so to be safe keep it above 10 °C¹¹. Dry, heated air doesn't bother it – don't mist.

Soil, pot & repotting. Free-draining cactus soil, or houseplant soil with a third sand or grit¹⁰. As a rule of thumb, a heavy pot with a drainage hole stops the tall leaves from tipping everything over. Clay works well: the soil dries faster in it¹². Repot only when roots fill the pot, into a pot just slightly bigger¹⁰ – as a rule of thumb every two to four years in spring.

Feeding. From spring to early autumn about once a month with a liquid houseplant or cactus fertiliser¹⁰; as a rule of thumb not at all in winter.

Extras

Sometimes it flowers: on a long stalk, greenish-white flowers open and start to smell sweet towards evening⁷.