Species · genus Dracaena · Asparagaceae

Star Sansevieria

Dracaena pethera Byng & Christenh.

Growth habit
broad wavy-leaved rosette succulent
Native range
Tanzania and coastal east Africa
Reference · D. pethera

Cultivars of D. pethera

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A snake plant with broad, wavy, beautifully mottled leaves in low star-shaped rosettes. Long known as Sansevieria kirkii; when the genus merged into Dracaena the epithet kirkii was already taken, so it carries the replacement name pethera.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes drawn from cited sources
Light
retail care guidance (growswithlove.com listing): low to bright light
Water
dry-succulent 28-day floor — retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): drought-tolerant, minimal care
Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Not documented

Temperature

Not documented

Soil mix

Not documented

Propagation

Not documented

Fertilizing

Not documented

Growth rate

Not documented

Flowering

Not documented

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Like its snake-plant relatives, the leaves carry saponins — chewing can cause vomiting, drooling, and stomach upset in cats and dogs. Genus-level evidence; treat with the same caution as any snake plant. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

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No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

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Sources: retail care guidance (growswithlove.com listing): low to bright light · dry-succulent 28-day floor — retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): drought-tolerant, minimal care · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_pethera + growswithlove.com listing · genus-level inference — ASPCA lists snake plants (Dracaena/Sansevieria, saponins) as toxic to cats and dogs; no species-exact authority found for D. pethera

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Star Sansevieria yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.

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