Snake Plant Monocot or Dicot Explanation

Snake plant is a popular houseplant with yellow-striped leaves. Also, it has tiny pale green scented flowers. By the way, is the Snake Plant a monocot or a dicot? Well, here we are going to reveal that explanation.

Is Snake Plant a Monocot or Dicot?

Based on the research, Mother-in-law’s tongue, or snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) is monocot. The key differences between monocot and dicot  is that monocots do not have branched veins on the leaves and their flower petals are in threes or multiples of threes. For your information, the Snake Plants have 6 petals. While dicots have branched veins and leaves are in groups of two or four.

Scientific classification

• Kingdom : Plantae
• Clade : Tracheophytes
• Clade :  Angiosperms
• Clade :  Monocots
• Order : Asparagales
• Family : Asparagaceae
• Subfamily : Nolinoideae
• Genus : Dracaena
• Species : D. trifasciata

Snake Plants Monocots explanations

In fact, the Snake Plants are monocots. For your information, Monocotyledons commonly known as monocots are grass and grass-like flowering plants, the seeds of which usually contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They denote one of the main groups into which the flowering plants have traditionally been divided, the rest of the flowering plants having two cotyledons and thus classified as dicots (dicotyledons).

Monocots (Monocotyledons) have almost always been known as a group, however with many taxonomic ranks and under some different names. The 2009 APG III system admits a clade named “Monocots,” but does not assign it to a taxonomic rank. Apparently, the monocots include about 60,000 species. By number of species, the biggest family in this group are Orchids (with more than 20,000 species). Roughly half as many species belong to the true grasses, which are economically the most important family of monocots. Often mistaken for the grasses, sedges are monocots too.

Most of the biomass produced comes from Monocotyledons, or simply known as Monocots. These include not only main grains such as rice, wheat, or maize, but also sugar cane, bamboo and forage grasses.

Other important monocots crops include:

• Various palms (Arecaceae).
• Bananas and plantains (Musaceae).
• Gingers and their relatives.
• Turmeric and cardamom (Zingiberaceae).
• Asparagus (Asparagaceae).
• Pineapple (Bromeliaceae).
• Sedges (Cyperaceae).
• Rushes (Juncaceae).
• Onion and garlic (Amaryllidaceae).

Lots of houseplants are monocotyledon epiphytes. Aside from that, most of the horticultural bulbs such as lilies, amaryllis, cannas, daffodils, irises, tulips and bluebells, are monocots (Monocotyledons).

Monocots Description

Monocots (Monocotyledons) have a single (mono-) cotyledon, or embryonic leaf in their seeds. Based on the research, this feature was utilized to compare the monocots with the dicots (Dicotyledons) which usually have two cotyledons. Another research has shown that dicots (Dicotyledons) are not a native group. That term can only be utilized to signify all angiosperms that are not monocots (Monocotyledons). Because they are only present for a short period in a life of plant, the number of cotyledons is not a mainly useful characteristic.

The single cotyledon is just one of a number of modifications of the body plan of the monocots, whose adaptive advantages are deficient. Monocots (Monocotyledons) are enough special that there has rarely been contradiction as to membership of this group. But, morphological features that credibly characterize major clades rarely occur.

So, the monocots (Monocotyledons) are distinguishable from other angiosperms in the terms of their uniformity and diversity. Aside from that, the structure of the leaf and the configuration of the flower are more uniform than in the remaining angiosperms. Within those constraints a wealth of diversity exists, which shows a high degree of evolutionary success.

Physical characteristics of Monocots

The Monocots are marked by seeds with a single cotyledon, parallel veined leaves, absence of the typical cambium, and also an adventitious root system. Usually, flower parts come in multiples of three. The pollen has characteristically featured a single aperture.

The monocot roots lack a vascular cambium. For your information, a vascular cambium is the area development of secondary xylem and phloem, or secondary vascular tissue. Thus, they have no means of secondary thickening. In other structural respects, the monocot roots are basically similar to those of eudicots. Lots of eudicots have a taproot or some strong roots, with some orders of branch roots, all originating finally from the embryonic root. The taproot or primary roots in that system have a vascular cambium and they are thickened by secondary growth.

This type of root system is not available to monocots. Instead, the primary root which originates from the radicle of the embryo will abort or is undeveloped so that no primary root is produced. The root system of monocots is wholly adventitious. The roots are all slender. The plant is said to be fibrous-rooted.

You have to know that flowers of monocots differ from those of eudicots particularly in the number of parts of each kind. The flowers of monocots most often have the parts in sets of three, sometimes four, but almost never five. The numbers are characteristic of the sepals and petals. Probably, the stamens and pistils are numerous, even when the perianth is trimerous, or the single ovary may have two carpels instead of three. Oftentimes there are six stamens, representing two whorls of three.

Snake Plants Care

In addition, here we want also to explain a little bit about the Snake Plants care.

After the Snake plants are established, less care is necessary for the snake plants. You have to place them where there is no direct sunshine, mainly in the winter season. Actually, letting the Snake plants dry in between watering is better. If the Snake plants are potted, you are able to give a small amount of all purpose fertilizer.

For terms of temperature, remember that scarring of the leaves occurs when the snake plant is left exposed to the outside temperature which falls below 55°F. For this case, you have to place your snake plant in daylight temperature from 60 to 80°F and night temperature from 55 to 70°F.