They have been terribly stressful weeks, the school activities of my daughters have absorbed me to such an extreme, that I feel an enormous physical and mental wear. There are many activities to accomplish and very little time available, 24 hours are no longer enough for me. I need several additional hours in the day to be able to fulfill all my activities at work, at home and also to support my daughters with their academic activities.

But let's talk about something more relaxing, don't you think? For me in particular, nature relaxes me, so writing about it fascinates me, unveiling all those mysteries that I can find in it. Now, how about finding out about a curious plant that I have been seeing for a long time around my house, in the images you can see it and maybe you already know it. According to what I was able to find out, it is a plant that is popularly known as Mother-in-law's Tongue, a curious name, don't you think? But it also has other unique names, such as Tiger's Tongue, Cat's Tongue, Cow's Tongue, Tiger's Tail, Pike's Tail, Snake's Tail, Tiger's Tail, St. George's Sword, Bolivar's Sword, Serpentaria, Chucho, Donkey's Ears and Sansevieria.

This last popular name, is derived from the scientific name of the species, which is Sansevieria trifasciata, and of course also owes it to the genus to which it belongs identified at botanical level as Sansevieria, another name with which it is also known at scientific level is Dracaena trifasciata. This plant belonging, in addition, to the family of the Liliaceae, is native of the tropical zones of the African west, arriving even to be found in Nigerian territory, and in the east zone of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This particular plant is what is known as a semi-succulent plant, it develops in the form of a rosette, that is to say, they emerge vertically from the center outwards, grouped in a similar way as the petals of a rose are arranged. Its leaves grow erect and are shaped like spears or long tongues, are very rigid and measure between 40 cm and 1.40 meters long, by about 10 cm wide at most. As for the colors, this varies depending on the variety, however, in the case of this particular as you can see is mostly dark green, with a mottled pattern in white and at the edges and tip is becoming a yellowish color.

Now let's talk a little about its inflorescences is a floral rod, which can reach about 80 cm long. The flowers are very aromatic and as you can see in the pictures are grouped as in levels. In each level there are 3 to 8 flowers around the rod, they are very small, at the most they reach 30mm long and have a greenish white color. As for its fruit, I have never seen it, but according to what I have investigated it is an orange berry. Something important to note about this plant, is that it can take many years for it to bloom, it may even never happen, so it is not something usual to have the opportunity to appreciate its inflorescences.

There are many people who hold this curious plant in very high esteem, even considering it the perfect plant. First of all, we can highlight that it is an easy to care for plant, so if you do not have much experience caring for plants, this would be an excellent choice, as it is very resistant. On the other hand, something that really draws attention to this plant and makes it ideal to place it as decoration in our homes, is that it seems to have the ability to purify the air in our homes. Let me explain, its leaves are supposed to adsorb from the air some toxins that pollute the air we breathe, toxins such as nitrogen oxide, benzene, formaldehyde, xylene and trichloroethylene. Cool right!

Finally, I wanted to tell you that, although there is no scientific evidence, and even some do not recommend using it for this purpose. There are those who attribute medicinal properties to it, indicating that it contributes to the healing of wounds, relieves headaches and even migraines, lowers blood sugar levels, helps to improve kidney ailments, reduces inflammation of the respiratory tract, is a laxative and even prevents cancer.

Well, dear readers and nature lovers, it only remains for me to say goodbye, hoping that the images and information I share with you about this beautiful plant have been to your liking. Very specially, I hope @bucipuci, @adalger and all the team of @dna and @amazingnature like it, since, it is my entry for this week's contest, in which, if you want to participate, you can access by clicking on the following link Amazing Nature Contest: FREE TOPIC - #3/3/23. Best wishes for well being and health to all, God Bless. See you next time.

Content and photographs of my intellectual property

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