Hi,
I just bought a Sansevieria labeled Sansevieria 'Congo' and I'm curious whether anyone thinks it's different than S. masoniana, also known as S. 'Mason's Congo'.
Luckily just a couple weeks ago I was very generously given an order from Logee's that included a plant labeled "Sansevieria masoniana 'Mason's Congo', so I can directly compare the two. I'm not used to looking at Sansevierias but I don't see a difference. If anyone can, or thinks there is a lookalike or hybrid with the shorter name of S. 'Congo', I would be curious.
Here are the two side-by-side. The Logee's plant was damaged in transit. A small leaf was broken off, and a larger one was twisted loose and eventually rooted a bit. I turned that into a leaf cutting, which I've included in the comparison.
I bought the new plant at a nursery in Santa Cruz, CA. called DIG Gardens. I've found a number of really nice plants there, always at great prices. The density of interesting plants there per square foot is extraordinary. The Sansevieria 'Congo' was $16, compared to the Logee's plant which says $19 on the price tag. I don't think the Logee's plant was overpriced, just that this was a great deal.
The employee who was helping me was hypercompetent and very helpful. Even he was not able to track down whether the plant they had received as S. 'Congo' was the same as S. masoniana/'Mason's Congo'. So I can't fault the nursery about any ambiguity regarding the name.
I am curious why the plant seems to have grown into a larger clump instead of growing taller. Or did they put multiple plants in a pot (as seems a little too common), or is it an artifact of the propagation?
I've also seen larger plants locally, for example this one a few weeks ago at Golden Nursery in San Mateo (a little closer to me). I don't remember the size of the pot (2-5 gallons, definitely at least 2). This was a big plant, and you can probably see the price ($40) was as well.
bonsaigai