I don't consider myself an experienced grower….so I have no answers to the good questions you posed. My Sans rarely flower. Some grow rapidly, and some grow barely at all. Also, my "subsequent pups" don't always grow taller. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, like they have a path of their own to follow.

I was fascinated recently by someone who asked why some Sans rosettes seem to just stop growing, stunt their own growth and virtually die -- while the rest of the plant grows its rhizomes underground and new pups pop up. That has been my experience -- a healthy growing "popping up" plant with some dying rosettes mixed in. For the life of me, I don't know why. But -- I will be following this thread to see how the experienced people answer, because your questions are interesting.

I don't know how accurate it is, but according to Wikipedia, you gave the right answer to your first question

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansevieria

From where does this info come? To which species does it apply? (Stalk, not stock.)

Tiffany, give me some time to look up proof. I have observed it personally in some of mine. Yucca plants die after blooming but not Yucca trees.

Tiffany, According to B. Juan Chaninian pg. 16 of 'The Splendid Sansevieria', The above is correct. But I think he is generalizing. Most Sans stop their growth cycle anyway after several leaves per node with some only one leaf and others with 3 and still others with 50 or more. With the type that flower from the ground level, there is no stopping of growth. I just talked with someone ('Gasrocks') with a flower stock coming from the ground and said after 40 years of growing, he never see any dying back.

The term 'Monocarpic', meaning they die after flowering, doesn't apply to Sanseveria due to the fact they don't die. Just stop producing any new growth. Which is what Juan explained above.

Anyone else want to express an idea on this?

Stush

I don't have sources on this, but I have read on the internet that a sans will flower only if it's the last way for it to propogate, ie it is root bound and cannot grow wider via new leaves or rhizomes. Anyone have anecdotal or book evidence of this being true?

I would also add to this the question of "stacking" sans because I think I bought a stacking hahnii jade. Does anyone know if stacking is part of the cultivar or whether it's just something that happens when the conditions require it? I mean, if I have a stacking hahnii jade, is that because it's genetics make it stack or because of something in the previous care of the plant that caused the stacking, like being root bound or something like that?

Again pls, it's flower stalk.

Ms. Linguist: Pls. explain what 'stacking' refers to? Have never heard that reference re: Sans. plants before.

Here are two pics of the same plant. This is the only sans I have that has stacking leaves like this. The bottom pic (sorry about the lighting, but I hope you can see it) has the largest rosette with 6 layers of leaves. Both rosettes have the two lighter green leaves that are new growth since I bought them, about 2 months ago, from a local nursery.

I think Stush first mentioned the stacking in another thread that I had started. Stush, where else have you seen this?

Maybe it's just a growing habit, but I'm happy to have a plant that's doing it, so I can learn from observation.

My 'Moonshine' is showing the same thing. I gave Chris one that stacking also.

My most stacked Sans is 'Asahi'. Too many leaves to count. And their puping as well.

Stush

Stush, those are beautiful. It must be a growing habit, instead of genetic. This one I have was stacking when I got it and it was busting out of the plastic pot, so maybe crowding leads to stacking. Were yours root bound at one time?

I believe it is growing conditions more than genetics. No mine was not root bound but I keep them is smaller pots. Just took pups from it and no I have see but I didn't take any pictures (darn it) of a hahnii that was over 4 feet tall from stacking. It was kind of beat up but still, hundreds of leaves almost as wide and large as a futura. If I ever go back there, I will take pictures. I don't want it just to show and tell.

Stush