THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Joly i, 1887 
the quality of the fibre is exceptionally good. We 
have doubtless here a new fibre plant of great value.* 
Ia the treatment of the leaves of Sansevieria by 
machinery, the great drawback hitherto experienced 
has been their comparatively small size, and the 
difficulty of cleaning the fibre contained in them in 
an expeditious and remunerative manner. These cir- 
cumstances would not obtain in the case of the plant 
brought into notice by Sir John Kirk. Indeed, for 
moist tropical climates, as opposed to the dry, hot, 
and arid districts of Yucatan where the Sisal Hemp 
is grown, this and S. longiflora if they are really 
distinct would be likely to prove of exceptional value 
as fibre plants. 
It may be mentioned that all species of Sansevieria 
prefer a rich moist soil and a comparatively humid 
climate. They are essentially tropical plants and do 
not thrive in a temperature less than 60° Fahr. 
Under such conditions they grow rapidly and establish 
themselves permanently by means of large spreading 
fleshy rhizomes or underground stems. It is true they 
will grow in comparatively dry districts, and even 
in soils strongly impregnated with salt ; but their 
growth under such circumstances is very slow and 
the leaves are seldom large enough to produce market- 
able fibre. 
Dr. Roxburgh proposed that the fibres of Sansevierias 
might be called Bowstring hemp, because the natives 
of the Oircars make their best bowstrings of them. 
On the other haDd, small samples of fibre from & 
guineensis, which have appeared in the London market, 
jhave been called African bowstring hemp. These 
fibres are very firm, hair-like and silky, and closely 
resemble those of the pine-apple ; they are said to 
take dyes very readily ; and the tow is mentioned 
by Eoyle to have been converted into good paper at 
Trichinopoly. 
"Plants of Sansevieria are already abundant in a 
wild or semi-cultivated state in most tropical countries. 
They are capable of being propagated very readily. 
Usually the underground stem or rhizome is divided 
and planted ; but plants may also be raised from seed, 
or from the leaves, which latter, planted whole or 
cut into small pieces, readily take root in moist 
situations. 
A full botanical description of the several species 
of Sansevieria maybe found in a monograph of the 
AspARAGACEiE, in the fourteenth volume of the 
Journal of the Linnean Society, pp. 546-550, by Mr. J. 
G. Baker, F. E. s. The description given in the 
following notes are contributed by Mr. Baker. The 
species are restricted to those which are now under 
cultivation at Kew, and of which specimens of fibre 
have been prepared and examined. The plants may 
be spen 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 San-' 
sevieria, t of which we have living plants at Kew 
are seven in number, and they may be readily classi- 
fied according to their leaves in three groups, as 
follows : — 
I— Leaves comparatively thin and flat: — 
1. S. guineensis. 2. S. longiflora. 
3. 8. Kirkii. 4. 8. thyrsifiora. 
II. — Leaves semi circular in transverse section at the 
middle, deeply hollowed down the face : — 
5. 8. zcylanica. 
* As to the identification of this plant Mr. Baker 
remarks as follows : — 
"We have a specimen in flower from Buchanan, 
'Shire highlands, Zambesia. Yields a most excellent 
fibre.' So far as can be judged by a rough sketch 
Sir John Kirk's is the same plant ; and there seems 
DO reason why it should not be Mentieal with 8. longi- 
flora. Sims, in Bot, Mag. t. 2G34, of which we have 
specimens from Guinea, Angola, &c." 
t As regards the spelling, following the Genara 
Plantarum, we have adopted Sansevieria, instead of 
Sanseviera as being the oldest name. Thuuberg had 
it Sauaevieria; Willdenow altered it to Sanseviera, 
and Kunth followed. Bentham in Genera Plantarum 
reverted to Sansevieria, 
III.— Leaves club-shaped, more like stems than 
proper leaves : — 
6. & 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 of Linnaeus, in 
the year 1701, by Oommelinus in his " Horti Medici 
Amstelodamensis Rariorum Plantarum Descriptio " 
(tab. 20), _ under the name of " Aloe guineensis 
radice geniculata foliis ex viridi et atro undulatim 
variegatis." Linnasus classified it under the genus 
Aletris and so did Jacquin, who figured and carefully 
described it in 1770 in his Hortus Vindobonensis, 
vol. 1., p. 67, t. 84. It has horny, erect, lanceolate 
leaves, 3 or 4 feet long, 3 inches broad at the middle, 
narrowed gradually to an acute apex, not distinctly 
bordered with red, copiously mottled on both surfaces 
with broad irregular bands of white. The flowers 
are in a lax, simple spike, which rises to the same 
height as the leaves, in clusters of three to six, with 
a whitish perianth about 2 inches long, of which the 
six segments are about as long as the cylindrical 
tube. It is a native of Guinea, from which we have 
wild specimens gathered by Barter and others. We 
have it also from Central Africa, collected by 
Schweinfurth and Grant, and Abyssinia by Beccari, 
and what is most likely the same from the Zambesi 
country, gathered by Sir John Kirk in 1860 ; the 
latter accompanied by a sketch made on the spot, 
when he was botanist to the Livingstone Expedition. 
On the Zambesi S. guineensis appears to be called 
" Konje," and Sir John Kirk speaks of it as " yield- 
ing 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. Home, Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, 
Pamplemousses, mentions that — 
" This plant thrives well in Mauritius in damp 
" marshy places in the lowlands. I have no doubt 
" that it would thrive well in the wet up- 
" lands." 
It is widely distributed in the West Indies, and 
has been grown experimentally for the sake of its 
fibre at St. Thomas, Jamaica, and Trinidad. 
As regards cultural treatment, the following in- 
formation is taken from notes prepared by the late 
Director of the Botanical Department, Jamaica, on 
this and S. zeylanica : — 
" In the first instance plants may be put out at 
" 3 feet by 3 feet, which, allowing for roads and 
" paths, would give about 3,000 to the acre. If the 
" soil is kept well broken and moist, these plants, 
" by the extension of root suckers, will spread in 
" all directions, so that ultimateley the whole ground, 
" with the exception of certain paths, which should 
" be kept permanently opeD, will be covered with 
" plants. As regards the time which must elapse 
" between planting out and the first yield of leaves 
" suitable for fibre, there would appear to be % 
" great difference of opinion. Plants which I saw 
" at St. Thomas at three years old were only just 
" ready to be cut ; and Baron Eggers, who had 
" planted them and kept them under close observ- 
" r.lion during the whole of that time, was of opnion 
"that Sansevieria plants could not be depended 
" upon to yield a crop before three or three and 
" a half years. 
" My own experience coincides with this, but 
" necessarily much must depend upon the nature of 
" the plants when first put out, the character of 
" the soil, the amount of moisture received, as well 
" as on the system of cultivation pursued. 
" Prom actual trial tests in India, where one-third 
" of an acre was cultivated with Sansevieria 
" zeylanica, it appears that full grown leaves of 
" three to three and a half feet long (tbeir actual 
" a°;e is not mentioned) yielded about 1 lb. of clei.ii 
" fibre for every 40 lb. of fresh leaves. That is, the 
" weight of clean dry fibre was at the rate of 2J 
" per cent, of the fresh leaves. Dr. Roxburgh calc- 
" ulated that one acre would yield 1,613 pouuds 
" of clean fibre at a gathering, two of wheih may 
