Sansevieria gracilis Variegated - the leaf that wouldn't die

[Spination]

This is an interesting experience I'm having with a particular plant I got Nov 2013. It got through the winter of that first year with no issues, but a very wet and damp following winter seemed to precipitate a problem. At the beginning of Jan, this year, I noticed 2 leaves were rotting on the plant. I didn't want it to spread to the rosette, so I removed the leaves, dusted sulfur powder on the cut leaf ends of the rosette, and that seemed to be the end of that issue. One leaf was rot, I threw it away, but the other leaf was actually OK for most of the distance to the leaf tip, Heavily variegated, I didn't know if it would grow roots or new plants from it, but I cut off all the rot, dipped it in rooting hormone powder, and placed it in sterilized medium. This small pot then went onto a seedling heating mat inside an upside down aquarium (to minimize moisture loss), and sat, and sat, and sat. I kept expecting the leaf to brown up and die, but it didn't. A few times, I pulled it out of the soil to see if anything was happening, but nothing. The leaf wouldn't die, but it wasn't rooting either. Today, almost 9 months later, I pulled out the leaf again, and lo and behold, a few tiny roots - finally!
Here's a pictorial account of what happened:
First arrived

2013 11 04 Sansevieria gracilis Variegated.jpg (228.77 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

Doing well

2014 07 23 Sansevieria gracilis b X750.jpg (98.14 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

Uh Oh

2015 01 08 S gracillia a X750.jpg (132.4 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

2015 01 08 S gracillia b X750.jpg (67.74 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

2015 01 08 S gracillia c X750.jpg (109.22 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

2015 01 08 S gracillia e X750.jpg (155.64 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

Not dead, but not doing anything either

2015 06 02 S gracilis leaf.jpg (92.54 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

Today

2015 08 21 S gracilis a X750.jpg (186.99 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

Close up - tiny roots visible!

2015 08 21 S gracilis a a.JPG (102.41 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

And the rosette, looking fine albeit missing 2 leaves...

2015 08 21 Sans gracilis b X750.jpg (201.75 KiB) Viewed 1868 times

[Spination]

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Today, during my daily misting and inspection of seedlings (mostly Aloe, Gasteria, Haworthia), I had the distinct pleasure of being pleasantly surprised and amazed followed by a flash of pure joy at the notice and realization that this little experiment posted about previously has finally shown signs of promise and success.

To recap, this leaf was salvaged after action taken with an apparently dire situation with a Sansevieria gracillis Variegated plant that was beginning to rot. After cutting, treating with sulfur powder, and rooting hormone, it was placed in a pot with sterilized medium on a seedling heat mat on Jan 8, 2015 (the 2014 caption on the photo itself was a typo). It was misted as needed with water and 1/2 tbsp H2O2 per 16 oz H2O to prevent fungal activity. There was no actual expectation for whether the leaf would survive, much less reproduce. I was rather amazed that months later, there was no further evidence of rot or decomposition. Finally, in August 2015, I pulled it out of the pot to see if anything was happening, gratified with the detection of tiny roots evident. I can't say how many times I thought this was probably a complete waste of time, and nothing more than an exercise in seeing how long the leaf would survive. I resisted thoughts on several occasions to just chuck the thing away. Today, my eyes just about bugged out when I thought I saw tiny plantlets coming out of the soil around the leaf. Closer inspection revealed that's exactly what is happening! Wow....and it "only" took almost one and a half years!

What!?

2016 06 14 S gracilis Var leaf a x750.jpg (242.54 KiB) Viewed 1712 times

Wow! Yeah, they're little but it's a big thing to me.

2016 06 14 S gracilis Var leaf a a.JPG (186.34 KiB) Viewed 1712 times

And the current condition of "Mom", with new pup as well.

2016 06 14 S gracilis Var and pup X750.jpg (200.09 KiB) Viewed 1712 times

I have no doubt that the extreme time frame involved here is due to the also extreme variegated phenotype of the plant, it's separate leaf, and corresponding low degree of chlorophyll for energy production.

[Spination]

Here's the latest progress on this leaf's production of 2 new plants, both most definitely variegated! This is highly illuminating, because previous readings I've done on the subject indicate that trying to propagate variegated plants from leaf cuttings is fruitless, due to these plants being chimeras.

Probably the best discussion that I've seen in a book is in Gordon Rowley's Teratopia, and his description of chimera is "a mixture of two or more cell lineages, each of which retains its genetical identity while dividing to form tissues without any blending of hereditary material (Tilney-Bassett 1986)." The idea is that the variegated and non-variegated cells are genetically distinct, such that the organism combines a mix of two related but dissimilar tissues, "one the fully functional green prototype,the other the rogue lacking chlorophyll." The implication is that apparently for the most part, leaf cuttings result (I guess "usually") in new non-variegated plantlets produced. Apparently, this is not always the case, as I can see with my own eyes right here that a variegated leaf section is unquestionably producing 2 new variegated plants.

2016 07 17 Sansevieria gracilis Variegated Leaf X750.jpg (205.33 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

Which brings me to a leaf cutting of Sanseveria cylindrica Variegated I also tried to root/propagate Aug 2015, to see what would happen.

2015 08 14 Sans cylindrica leaf rooting.JPG (167.61 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

In this case, the acquired plant looked great upon arrival Oct 2014

2014 10 17 Sans cylindrica Variegated c X750.jpg (200.01 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

However, a year later, it appeared the plant had issues, with a couple of leaves drying/dying, turning into corky dead tissue in one case from the base to the leaf, and the "infection" (?) apparently spreading to other leaves. Fearing loss of the plant, I cut all the problem leaves off, and salvaged one clean leaf end for a propagation trial. Further deterioration was halted, the plant survived, and looked like this a couple of months after the removal of the problem leaves.

2015 10 19 Sans cylindrica Var c a.JPG (162.44 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

I noticed the other day as well the original plant has a new rhizomatic propagate breaking the soil surface (no idea though at this point if it's variegated or not).

2016 07 17 Sansevieria cylindrica Variegated a X750.jpg (208.14 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

Today, the leaf cutting

2016 07 17 Sansevieria cylindrica Leaf X750.jpg (170.41 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

I hadn't really considered that the new plant growing from the cutting is variegated, because I had thought this was not possible, until the revelation of results recently realized from the Sansevieria gracilis leaf. Now, looking at the cylindrica leaf cutting propagate with new perspective, I believe this is variegated as well.

The revelation personally amazes me, with insights gained regarding possibilities for future propagation of plants from variegated leaf cuttings. It then comes down to a decision sacrificing aesthetics if a plant is otherwise perfect (not worth it in my opinion), or further utilization of a plant which is already less than perfect (seems entirely reasonable). Let the games begin!