5 
A full botanical description of the several species of Sansevieria may 
be found in a monograph of the AsPARAGACEA, in the fourteenth volume 
of the Journal of the Linnean Society, pp- 546-550, by Mr. J. G. 
been prepared and examined. The plants may be seen in the West 
Transept of the Palm House at Kew ; while the specimens of fibres 
are in Kew Museum, No. 2. 
The species, or well-marked sub-species, of Sansevieria,* of which 
we have living plants at Kew, are seven in number, and they may be 
readily classified according to their leaves in three groups, as follows :— 
I. Leaves comparatively thin and flat :— 
1. S. guineensis, 2. S. longiflora: 
3. S. Kirkii. 4. S. thyrsiflora. 
I. Leaves semicircular in transverse section at the middle, deeply 
hollowed down the face :— 
5. S. zeylanica. 
IIT. Leaves club-shaped, more like stems than proper leaves :— 
a 6. S. cylindrica. 7. S. sulcata 
1. Sansevieria guineensis, Willd., is one of the two oldest and best 
known species. It was first figured and described, long before the days 
: Pn er 
o 
of Linnæus, in 1701, by Commelinus in rti Medici 
Amstelodamensis Rariorum Plantarum Descriptio” (tab under 
the name o loe guineensis radice genicula foliis ex viridi et at 
his Hortus Vindobonensis, vol. I, p. 67, t. 4. It has horny, erect, 
lanceolate leaves, 3 or 4 feet long, 3 inches broad at the middle, 
acute apex, not distinctly bordered with red, 
copiously mottled on both surfaces with broad irregular bands of white, 
The flowersare in a lax, simple spike, which rises to the same height as the 
Sir John Kirk in 1860; the latter accompanied by a sketch made on the 
On the Zambesi S. guineensis a rs to be called “ Konje,” and 
Sir John Kirk speaks of it as “yielding a valuable fibre similar to 
Manila Hemp.” It is described as “ growing in great abundance 
in many places keeping to the shade of woods.” 
Mr. Horne, Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Pamplemousses, 
mentions that— ae 
“This plant thrives well in Mauritius in damp marshy places in the 
« Jowlands. I have no doubt that it would thrive well in the wet 
“« uplands.” 

alle emer te ear 
* As regards the spelling, following the Genera Plantarum, we have adopted 
Sansevieria, instead of Sanseviera as being the oldest name. Thunberg had it 
Sansevieria; Willdenow altered it to Sanseviera, and Kunth followed. Bentham in 
d ria. 
Genera Plantarum reverted to Sansevieria 
