8 
“ able to send home the inflorescence for identification. The 
“ which yield the fibre are at first flat and clouded, but after a = ia 
Several plants of this species are growing iù the Palm House at Kew, 
from which it would appear that it is a ver wing and robust 
species. Some leaves from these plants were lately tested for fibre by 
means of Death’s fibre machine, which yielded at the rate of 1°69 per 
cent, of clean dry fibre. The report of Messrs Ide and Christie on 
specimens thus prepared was as follows :—“ A very bright, clean, strong 
66 i icle. It w 
* compete “i. the best Sisal Hemp for rope-making purposes. Value 
301. : 
petn is little doubt that from the _— habit and size which this 
species is capable of attaining, that it is a most valuable fibre a 
As reported by Sir John Kirk, a single leaf of what we take to be the 
a species under favourable circumstances attains a height of 9 feet ; 
rom one such leaf excellent fibre weighing 3 oz. has been produce ed. 
This and other examples of fibre are in the Kew Museum, No, 2. 
3. Of Kirkii, Baker MS., we know the leaves only, but it 
is evidently a distinct species. It was sent to Kew by Sir John Kirk 
in October — as a native of the east coast of Africa. 
it in cultivation at Kew since that time, but so far it has not ie 
The leaf is hadaa in shape, and very horny in texture. We hav 
only grown it to a length of 2 feet, with a breadth in the middle of 
3 inches. The leaf is dull green, with a distinct brown e edge, and is 
much aee on both sides. The base is much thicker, and its edges 
are more incurved than in either of the three other comparatively flat- 
leaved kadn sid down the back of the lower part of a leaf run about 
mgs distinct grooves, a character which distinguishes it endily from 
. guineensis and S. longiflora 
Specimens of fibre prepared from S. Kirkii, yielded at the rate of 1°69 
per cent. by weight of the green leaf. They were described by Messrs. 
Ide and Christie as follows :—“ Rather stout, bi , very clean and good 
“ colour : the strength fair. Value 27/. per 
4, Sansevieria thyrsiflora, Thunb., is the sre on which the genus 
Sansevieria was first pamasa Er by Thunberg, i in the year 1794. The 
leaf is nearly flat and does not reach above a foot or a foot and a half in 
length, and is an inch and a half or two inches broad at the middle, with 
abundant os and a = red edge. The flower does not differ 
from that of S. guineensis is a native of the eastern parts of Cape 
Colony. Zeyher gives the He of growth as “ Uitenhage, in woods of 
“ Zwartkops and many other places in the east of the colony ; Kei of 
“ the Hottentots ; a decoction of the root used for dysentery.” 
The leaves of this species, growing at Kew, were too small to be 
tested for fibre 
ansevieria zeylanica, Willd., is a very well known and well- 
marked plant. It isa native of Ceylon, and, long before Linnæus, was 
figured and described by a Commelinus, and Pluknet. There are 
8 or 10 leaves in a tuft a nd they are semi-circular in transverse section, 
Sith white, with a distinct red margin. "The peduncle and flower spike 
are each about a foot long, the flowers being rather smaller than in S. 
guineensis, but quite similar in structure. It is well figured in Rédoute’s 
