The snake plant is a wonderfully versatile plant. There are about 70 species of snake plant in the historical Sansevieria genus (now in the Dracaena genus), and hundreds of named cultivars are available. Let’s look at 30 of the most popular snake plant varieties to grow!
1. Laurentii snake plant
Laurentii snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Laurentii’/D. trifasciata var. laurentii,synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’) is one of the most popular varieties of snake plant to grow. This variety is known for the variegated yellow margins along the sides of the dark green leaves.
Laurentii snake plants are among the easiest types to grow and are easy to find in plant shops and garden centers. You can also propagate your own with leaf cuttings.
2. Black coral snake plant
Black coral snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Coral’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Coral’) is a popular variety with skinny flat dark green leaves. This is a great variety for those looking for a muted, elegant appearance. Most mature plants are 2-3 feet tall when grown as container houseplants.
3. Moonshine snake plant
Moonshine snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Moonshine’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Moonshine’) is a specialty cultivar with broad pale grey-green leaves. This variety is also shorter than most of the other common varieties of snake plant, making it perfect for a tabletop or other compact display area. The light green leaves make this plant quite unique when compared to other types of mother in law’s tongue plants.
4. Whale fin snake plant
Whale fin snake plant (Dracaena masoniana, synonym Sansevieria masoniana) is a specialty species of snake plant known for its single broad leaf that resembles a whale fin sticking out of the ocean. While this is a rarer type, all the basics of snake plant care apply, including indirect light, grainy well-drained succulent soil, and infrequent watering (think of the desert).
Mature plants will grow multiple leaves in an open form and can be propagated by division to retain the single leaf look.
5. Starfish snake plant
Starfish snake plant (Dracaena angolensis ‘Boncel’, synonym Sansevieria cylindrica ‘Boncel’) is a unique cultivar with conical leaves that spread out in a pointed star-like shape. This slow-growing plant almost looks like a hand with fingers stretched out in a fan from the base of the plant. Sometimes the plants are relatively flat, with all the leaves in a single plane. The cultivar name of the starfish snake plant is ‘Boncel’.
6. Sayuri snake plant
Sayuri snake plant (Dracaena aubrytiana ‘Sayuri’, synonym Sansevieria aubrytiana ‘Sayuri’) is a specialty type with silver-green leaves that have a faint vertical stripe pattern. Like others in this plant family, this succulent plant has sword-shaped leaves and greenish-white flowers.
7. Black gold snake plant
Black gold snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Gold’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Gold’) is a bicolor variegated cultivar with dark green leaves that have bright yellow edges.
8. Futura superba snake plant
Futura superba snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Futura Superba’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Futura Superba’) is a compact variegated variety with broad green leaves and yellow margins. This variety has pronounced horizontal striped patterns on the leaves.
9. Black robusta snake plant
Black robusta snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Robusta’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Robusta’) is a dark green cultivar with dark grey-green horizontal stripes on the leaves. These snake plants are among the darkest types available.
10. Whitney snake plant
Whitney snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Whitney’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Whitney’) is a specialty type with unique variegated dark green-grey leaves. The center of the leaf is typically very dark green, while the margins have a thick vertical grey stripe that contains small horizontal dark green stripes.
11. Fernwood snake plant
Fernwood snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Fernwood’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Fernwood’), also called ‘Fernwood Mikado’, is a variety with thin green leaves that bend outwards towards the top, giving this type a fountain-like shape. The leaves are dark green with lighter green horizontal stripes.
12. Zeylanica snake plant
Zeylanica snake plant (Dracaena zeylanica, synonym Sansevieria zeylanica) is a classic species snake plant, having been described as early as 1799 (source: International Plant Names Index). This variety has conical pointed leaves rather than the broad leaves of most types of snake plants.
Usually called Sansevieria zeylanica Ceylon bowstring, or viper’s bowstring hemp, this plant flowers with fragrant, thin light green flowers in the spring when the plant gets enough light. Dracaena zeylanica is native to Sri Lanka.
13. Twist snake plant
Twist snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Twist’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Twist’) is a compact variegated variety with undulating leaves. The rippled leaves have a dark green center and bright yellow wavy edges. The dark green center also has inner horizontal grey stripes.
14. Gold flame snake plant
Gold flame snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Gold Flame’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Gold Flame’) is a variegated bicolor hybrid variety. The dark green leaves have yellow edges and also vertical striping within the darker green areas. Young leaves are often completely yellow when they first emerge.
Gold flame is also unique in that it is vase-shaped, with the leaves growing on a diagonal rather than nearly straight up. This variety is sometimes called ‘Golden Flame’ instead of ‘Gold Flame’.
15. Starlite snake plant
Starlite snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Starlite’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Starlite’) is a small snake plant type with olive green leaves and a dark green horizontal striped pattern.
16. Black dragon snake plant
Black dragon snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Dragon, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Dragon’) is a dwarf snake plant variety with glossy solid dark green leaves.
This compact plant has a rosette “bird’s nest” form rather than the straight upright leaves of more common varieties. Bird’s nest Sansevieria are particularly popular compact houseplants. This is a great plant for those who like smaller plants and those that prefer a dark green color without variegation.
17. Twisted sister snake plant
Twisted sister snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Twisted sister’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Twisted sister’) is a dwarf variegated snake plant with undulating rippled leaf edges. The leaves are dark green in the center with horizontal grey striping. The margins are a bright yellow tone. This variety is very similar to the ‘Twist’ snake plant.
18. Emerald star snake plant
Emerald star snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Emerald Star’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Emerald Star’) is a dark green rosette-forming bird’s nest form type with thin yellow margins. From above, it truly does look like a dark green star with a faint yellow glow.
19. Hahnii snake plant
Hahnii snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Hahnii’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Hahnii’) is a dwarf bird’s nest form (funnel-shaped) variety with grey-green horizontal-striped leaves. This is one of the most popular smaller forms of snake plant, and is sometimes sold labelled as “dwarf snake plant”. Mature plants are usually only about 8″ tall, making this variety perfect for a tabletop centerpiece or a plant shelf.
20. Golden Hahnii snake plant
Golden hahnii snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Golden Hahnii’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Golden Hahnii’) are yellow-green variegated dwarfs. Like the plain ‘Hahnii’, it is a short plant with a circular rosette form. Unlike the plain cultivar, it has broad yellow margins along the edges of the leaves.
21. Black Jack snake plant
Black Jack snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Black Jack’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black Jack’) is a newer cultivar with very dark green-black pointed succulent leaves and greeny-yellow leaf margins.
22. Jaboa snake plant
Jaboa snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Jaboa’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Jaboa’) is a unique variety with spotted leaves. The dark green foliage is marbled with lighter olive green patches, giving it a completely different look to the striped and solid forms. The leaves are also slightly more bendy, giving this variety a more forgiving plant-like form when compared to some of the totally upright types.
23. Futura robusta snake plant
Futura robusta snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata ‘Futura Robusta’, synonym Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Futura Robusta’) is an elegant cultivar with dark green leaves and horizontal silvery stripes across the foliage.
24. Cylindrica snake plant
Cylindrica snake plant ( Dracaena angolensis, synonym Sansevieria cylindrica), also known as African spear plant, is a species with upright cylindrical leaves. The spears tend to stick straight up on healthy plants, giving this species a distinct architectural look as a houseplant.
26. Kenya hyacinth snake plant
Kenya hyacinth snake plant (Dracaena parva, synonym Sansevieria parva) is a species-type with thin green leaves patterned with dark green stripes. The leaves are upright on young plants, but tend to bend over in a weeping form on mature plants.
27. Dragon fingers snake plant
Dragon fingers braided snake plant is a unique type of cylindrical snake plant that’s been cultured in the nursery to have three leaves that are manually braided together. While the plants don’t grow like this in nature, it certainly is a fun-looking small plant for indoors.
More snake plant varieties
Here are even more snake plant varieties to choose from:
- Bantel’s sensation snake plant
- Blue Kew snake plant
- Cleopatra snake plant
- Gabriella snake plant
- Jade snake plant
- Metallica snake plant
- Roxette snake plant
- Samurai snake plant
- Siam silver snake plant
- Silver hahnii snake plant
- Star snake plant
