Snake plant surprise

[jws]

Hello,
I have a snake plant in a container placed outside. I'm familiar with them in a general way, having grown and repotted them many times. But I saw something yesterday that very much surprised me. Coming from the base of the snake plant was an above-ground 'root' or stolon of some sort that had snaked its way down and around the entire grouping of plants that are sitting on a stack of bricks. I hadn't even noticed it before. It was a good 8-10 feet long. It really looked like the 'snake ' in the snake plant's name. It was tough and fibrous. I decided to cut it off, and it emitted a fairly strong odor, which seemed to me like it might be medicinal.
I suppose others are familiar with this, but it's the first time I've ever seen it happen. My main question is, does anyone know if this root( or whatever it technically is called) has any medicinal qualities. Thank you.

[vintagejuls]

I have a couple of these on my patio in the shady / filtered sun areas; AKA Mother In Law's Tongue.

My understanding is it is considered to be toxic when eaten so I don't think it would have any medicinal uses.

[The Helpful Gardener]

One man's poison is another's medecine...

Here's a white paper from South Africa that [url=https://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04072008-152202/unrestricted/01chapter1.pdf]lists the sap and rhizome[/url]of S. pearsonii as a treatment for "suppurating ears"...

There [url=https://www.metafro.be/prelude/view_plant?pi=02640]is a paper here[/url] that lists S. liberica as an ingredient for a local preparation from Benin; the article after says that it is used in conjunction with Cassia as an topical antifugal, particularly against dermatophytes, so athlete's foot I guess...

[url]https://www.scialert.net/pdfs/jbs/2004/405-412.pdf[/url]

And here is a [url=https://www.cebar.um.edu.my/PBIU%20Booklet/PBIU%20BOOKLET%20Final%20Revision%202.pdf]government sposored biotech incubator in Malaysia[/url] that is working with three species; they don't say what they are working on (no suprise) but you can bet it's anti-bacterial or antifungal...

Sounds like there is just cause to think of this as a topical skin treatment for minor scrapes and infections, but I would not use this internally at all.

[url]https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Sansetr.htm[/url]

Long story short, there are medicinal uses out there; we can neither refute or support them, but there is the info for what it is...hope it's helpful...

HG

[wind]

Snake Plant/Mother in law's tongue might not have medicinal properties when eaten or applied to the skin or other similar practices, however it is one of the three plants recommended for improving air quality or "growing your own fresh air" indoors.

This is a [url=https://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html]TED talk with Kamal Meattle[/url]

Researcher Kamal Meattle shows how an arrangement of three common houseplants, used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air.


[img]https://greenspaces.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/greenspaces_three_plants1.png[/img]

[The Helpful Gardener]

Wow, good stuff Wind! I am glad to see somebody putting some real research into the value of plants as life support systems for humans. We need all look at our personal requirements (nice to see them quantified) for O2 and cover at least our own needs in our yards. I don't mind doing a little extra as well...

HG

[plkelly]

Wow, that's really interesting--but if I put '6-8 waist high mother-in-law's tongues per person' in my bedroom, there wouldn't be room to sleep in there.

[The Helpful Gardener]

You could run a "window box" down any wall (they do with almost no light) and fill it, even baklight it. Very scultural plant...

Indoor air quality is a topic we will be haering more about in the coming years, mark my words...

HG

[plkelly]

My brother-in-law has been talking about it for years. He worked for NIOSH for years. Over a number of years, he accidentally became an expert on indoor air pollution. Even traveled around the country to big companies giving talks about it.

I used to have an old Victorian house with a huge bay window that was great for all kinds of plants. In fact, the whole house had huge windows. Now I live in a house with big overhanging eaves all around and no really good place for plants. I miss them so much. Everything I try to grow inside dies or does very poorly. I keep reading about the LED grow lights and wondering how well they work and where I could set up a green space inside the house.

[wind]

Yeah, that's great work by Kamal Meattle and team. And you do need a lot of plants to really take care of the air - but how great would it be to have dozens of these amazing plants surrounding you and helping you breathe and thrive!

plkelly: That's a wonderful Atwood quote.

here's one by me (as related to the thread)
"Let your greenhouse be your house"



(Ok, maybe I won't win any awards, but you know what I mean...)