There are color photos of sans on glasshouseworks.com. Also if you go to photo saving sites like webshots.com-type 'sansevieria' in search and click- you will find many more photos.
The newest book is "The Sansevieria Handbook"
by Juan Chahinian. It is the best book that is readily available on line.
You can see sans on ebay but beware. Prices are high and the names of the plants are frequently wrong. For some reason people see a goldmine in some of these plants. Totally unreasonable.
There are nurseries that sell sans on line for reasonable prices--Bob Smoley's and the Cactus Mall to name 2, but there are no pictures.
Good luck. These are interesting plants.
Johanna

Thank you for the info. I started out with just the regular mother-in-laws-tongue, but kept seeing new types at the box stores and thought WOW!

Maryl,
The Juan Chahinian book is called, "The Splendid Sansevieria".

Thanks, Maryl.
I was just about to edit my post.
Johanna

I couldn't find the title of the book as you put it first. I will look again. I did go to Glasshouse works and was overwhelmed by their selections. I now have the Laurentii, the golden Hahnii, regular striped green Trifasciata, and Moonlight. They are all nice plants that are different looking from each other. I'm not interested in only slight variations on the same theme as I'm not a collector and have no room to be one. That's why I want the book/websites. To see if there's something else out there that is really unique, but still simple to grow. I appreciate your help in my quest.

maryl-
Get a hold of a Sansevierira kirkii pulchra "Coppertone". This is my favorite Sans, and one of my favorite houseplants. The coppery leaves with almost black stripes are beautiful, and very different from your others! It is no more difficult than the others. I also think S. hallii is neat....."Baseball Bat". It is slow growing, and my own plant is still small, but mature plants are really neat lookingd! I happen to really also like Hahni "Silver Frost", stays small (obvioulsy) and each new pup is a little different. This plant is a bit slower growing, and a bit more difficult/sensitive than the other Sans.

You must get Lillian True. This is a very beautiful plant and grows taller than compacta. The futura group are strong growers and fine looking. Personally, my favorite is futura black. The cylindricas get very large and need very bright light to keep their good form--my favorite is cylindrica cv patula, which makes a big fan. Since there are over 500 sans, it is good to be picky.
Johanna

All suggestions are most welcome. This forum is where I found out about Hahnii and Moonlight. I almost bought the fan shaped, round leafed, pointy one (what is that?) at Home Depot this spring, but it grew too wide for my limited space. Oh no, I don't have anything other then lowish light indoors. I put my Sans outdoors over summer, but during winter they sit on the floor in a box under my east facing bay window. So far they have all survived just fine. I will be looking up all of your suggestions I can assure you.

Jonanna,you are so right about Lillian True!!I am thinking about buying one on e-bay.

Hi maryl, I hope my reply gives you something to think about. Since I was a child I've enjoyed plants. As an adult I got into some plant clubs. These Sanseverias are succulents, and I've had more luck finding odd sans from cactus and succulent club members than through the stores in my area.

That book recommended above from another reader is well worth the price. The author has been or is the leader of an international sans society, and he knows his plants.

I'm still looking things up on the internet when I have a chance and like the looks of the Baseball Bat and one called Bantell's Sensation. There was one on a website that was called "Sans Sp. Bally - variegated". I don't know what the "sp." stood for, but it looked small and neat. Anyone familiar with this or the Bantell one?

Maryl,
Sp. Stands for species. Bentel's sensation has been around a long time. I have a small 8" 3 leaf plant and love it. Look at Bob Smoley's plant site. I've heard that his plants are very nice and the prices look OK to me. I am about to make an order if this horrendous heat ever backs off. 102* today and 84% humidity!
Johanna

I will contribute my vote for Lillian True also. My plant is still young, but this is beautiful!

You should be able to find or trade for "Bantel's Sensation". I like this plant, mine was in a spot that was too cool for it (downright cold and drafty) so it suffered but it is recovering.

The variegated ballyi is hard to find and expensive. In fact, variegates of a lot of the other species can be "rare" and high priced, esp. on e-bay. If you have deep pockets, you can pick up a few of them. A variegated S. pinguicula recently went for more than $2,000.00. Ack!

Bob Smoley has some of the most reasonable prices around for good plants. He can sometimes be slow to respond, and I have heard people complain about mislabeling of some items. However, all in all, I think he is probably the best overall commercial source. At least in my fairly new to Sansevieria experience.

Flicker, under what kind of conditions do you grow your Sans? I sent an e-mail a while back about trade but I don't know if you got it or not.

Maryl, you still need a S. kirkii pulchra 'Coppertone'. Gorgeous (but I love all of the kirkiis!).

I grow a lot of other non-tropical plants so I'm familiar with most of the normal perennial mail order companies. Because of my other plant interests I've heard very mixed reviews about Glasshouse works but maybe that doesn't hold with their Sans. offerings. Anyone ordered from them?....And we will have the annual Cactus and Succlent show here this fall, so I will be bringing a list..... Yes, the heat/humidity here is awful. I need to dead head in the worst way, but by the time I get through all my watering chores outside, I'm just drained.