288 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Sansevieria kirkii. Pangane Hemp. 



This species grows abundantly near Pangane on the mainland opposite the island 

 of Zanzibar: discovered by Sir John Kirk. 



Structural Fiber. — The robust habit and large size of the leaf of this plant 

 render it valuable for fiber purposes. Under exceptional circumstances a leaf will 

 attain a height of 9 feet. The fiber from plants growing at Kew was valued in 1887 

 at £27 per ton. It is used by the natives, and yields a long and useful fiber. (Dr. 

 Morris.) 



Sansevieria longiflora. Florida Bowstring Hemp. 



Native of equatorial Africa, but distributed to tropical America; occurs in Trini- 

 dad and is common in garden cultivation in southern Florida, or in localities or on 

 some of the keys, in a semiwild state where introduced plants have been neglected. 

 The Florida species was at one time thought to be guineensis, but on receipt of 

 plants of both guineensis and longiflora from the royal Botanic Gardens of Trinidad 

 the form growing in Florida was properly identified. The leaves are similar to those 

 of S. guineensis, but larger, longer, and flatter, not so firm in texture, and not inva- 

 riably blotched, the spots being more irregular and the entire plant (in Florida) often 

 a lighter green. The flowers are 31 to 4 inches long, while those of S. guineensis are 

 2 inches. (See fig. 3, PI. Till.) 



Structural Fiber. — A specimen of fiber from plants grown at the Royal Kew 

 Gardens in 1887, and submitted to London fiber brokers, was described as very bright, 

 clean, and strong; in every way a most desirable commercial article, and was valued 

 at £30 per ton. Fiber extracted by the Department, in 1892, at its experimental fac- 

 tory on Biscayne Bay, Florida, from nearly a ton of leaves grown on Boca Chica Key, 

 was in every way superior to sisal hemp. Some of it was produced from a hundred 

 pounds of selected leaves that averaged &V feet in length, and fiber even 7 feet long 

 was secured, while the shortest was 2\ feet. 



Careful estimates based on the quality of Sansevieria fiber produced in these experi- 

 ments would fix the yield at about 40 pounds of fiber to the ton of leaves. The 

 Sansevieria waste was not weighed, but it is very safe to state that with only reason- 

 able wastage (cut fiber and fiber drawn out with the pulp) the yield of fiber per ton 

 would come nearer to 50 pounds. Even if this is considerably lower than the yield 

 of sisal hemp, the quick growth of the plant, the ease with which it can be harvested, 

 and the higher price of the fiber will probably more than make up for the difference 

 in the yield of cleaned fiber. 



The material is too good for cordage in the usual acceptance of the term. It is so 

 much finer and better than the cordage fibers, so called, that it would doubtless 

 find a use in the manufacture of fine twines, and with proper preparation might be 

 made into a fair spinning fiber, and possibly be employed on some new form of manu- 

 facture. The fiber is fine, white, and lustrous, the leaves yielding readily to treat- 

 ment in the machine in the fresh state. 



History in the United States. — During the investigations of the writer, in 

 Florida, in the winter of 1890-91, this plant was found growing at several points, 

 principally at Key West, on Boca Chica Key, and at Miami on the east coast. Noth- 

 ing was accomplished, however, further than to demonstrate that it would thrive 

 out of doors, in southern Florida, though a brief mention was given to the plant in 

 Bulletin No. 3, on sisal hemp culture (Fib. Inv. series), and a reference made to the 

 value of the Florida-grown liber, several samples having been secured. As early 

 as the spring of 1890 several letters were received relating to this plant, one of the 

 first being from Dr. J. A'. Harris, of Key West, who spoke highly of the value of 

 this plant for fiber cultivation. Letters were also received from Mr. George II. Bier, 

 of Key West, upon the subject, in one of which the statement was made that the 

 plant after introduction into the British "West India Islands, found its way to Cuba as 

 an ornamental plant, and in 1866 was brought as an ornamental plant from Cuba 



