14 
warrant a brief note. The specimen was secured from the New 
York Botanical Garden in the autumn of 1913. 
The genus Sansevieria comprises 12 to 14 species, related to the 
red-root (Gyrotheca tinctoria) of our New Jersey pine-barrens, 
if the view of Mr, J. G. Baker that the bow-string hemps belong 
to the bloodwort family (Haemodoraceae) be accepted. Other 
writers have often included them in the lily family. They are 
herbs with clusters of thick, flat, or cylindrical leaves froma 
creeping rootstock. They bear at the end of a stout, basal stalk, 
a long spike, usually many flowered. The perianth is corolla-like, 
usually greenish-white, and consists of a narrow cylindric tube 
and six linear lobes. The fruit is membranous and its rather early 
bursting releases from one to three nearly round seeds. The 
Garden specimen, unfortunately, did not bear any fruit, and there- 
fore produced no seeds. ! 
Of chief interest from the eccnomic standpoint is the fiber that 
is found in the body of the leaf. In the species flowering 
at the Garden. an illustration of which is presented herewith 
(fig. 1), the leaves are from 2 to 31% feet long, and about 2 inches 
broad. The fiber is, extracted by the natives of tropical Africa 
for bow-strings, as it is fine, silky and of considerable elasticity. 
A related species (S. zeylanica), from India, products a fine fiber 
that is extensively employed in making cordage for deep-sea 
dredging. The fiber is extracted by retting, in water. | 
The African bow-string hemp has been long in cultivation, 
having been grown at Hampton Court Gardens as early as 1690. 
Its curious variegated white and green leaves, and the large spike 
of whitish flowers make it an attractive plant for any greenhouse 
collection. It is readily propagated by division, or by leaf cut- 
tings which root in sandy soil within about four weeks. The new 
plant is produced at some distance from the cutting by a long bud 
resembling a stolon or “ runner.’ The plant thrives in heavy soil, 
and diffused sunlight. 
NorMAN TAYLOR. 
