Sansevieria Fibres Sansevieria fibre is obtained from the leaves of genus of

plants belonging to the Liliaceae family. The genus was named in honor of Rai mondo
di Sangro (1710-1771), prince of San Severo in Italy. "Sanseveria" or "Sanseviera"
plants are xerophytic herbaceous to shrubby succulent perennial 15 plants with
evergreen strap-shaped leaves, growing to 20 cm to 3 in tall, often forming dense
clumps from a spreading rhizome or stolons. The flowers are greenish-white, produced
on a simple or branched raceme 40-90 cm long. The fruit is a red or orange berry, -
http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sansevieria. Most of the cultivation is for ornamental
purposes. Plants of the Sansevieria genus send up stiff, pointed leaves from the base at
the root or from rhizomes sent out by the parent root. Leaves vary by species from
terete to acuminate shape. Surface of the leaves is hard and smooth. Colour varies by
species, ranging from a dark to a light green, some species and varieties being
variegated with bands of cream colour. The number of leaves per plant varies by
species, generally ranging from 8 to 15. Height also varies in range from 1 to 8 feet,
says Mauersberger (1954). Sansevieria plants are indigenous to Africa and India, but
have become naturalized in tropical parts of America and Mexico. The sansevieria fibre
is strong, white, soft, silky and elastic. The leaves have uniform fibres throughout their
length, the fibre strands are found in plenty with in the succulent leaf associated with the
vascular bundles as in the case of agaves. The common spices in South India are S.
Roxburghiana schult and S. ze lanica wild. Both the species are cultivated in gardens as
ornamental plants especially in rockeries. S. roxburghiana has flat leaves while S.
zeylanica has narrower leaves with a rounded back with a deep groove on the dorsal
side. In both the species eight to 12 leaves are found in a clump and the leaves have a
dull green colour with whitish bands. The penduncle is about 0.5-0.7 feet long, the
flowers are small and have the characters of the family Liliaceae, reveal Sundarraj and
Thulasidas (1993). Natural fibres are made up of scienrenchyma cells and have high
length to diameter ratios. These fibres are bonded together by natural gums and resins;
reveal Sayed and Marwaha (2006). Peterson, and Melville (2008), found that the leaves
of the snake plant-Sansevieria zeylanica contain bundles of fibres provide strength to
these elongated organs. Scierenchyma is a simple tissue consisting of either fibres or
sciereids. The thickened secondary cell walls stain blue-green because of the presence
of lignin. A microscopical view of sansevieria fibre is given by Peterson, and Melville
(2008). Figure I shows the crosssectional view of bundle of fibres (arrow head) within
the mesophyll of a snake plant- Sansevieria-zeylanica leaf. Transverse section stained
with TBO. Figure II shows the crosssectional view of bundle cap of fibres (arrow head)
in the phloem of a snake plant Sansevieria zeylanica leaf. Thinner walled fibres (double
arrow head) are also associated with the primary xylem. Transverse section stained
with TBO. Figure III shows the longitudinal section of a snake plant
Sansevieriazeylanica leaf stained with TBO showing a group of fibres (arrow head).
Figure IV shows the fibres from a macerated leaf of snake plant - Sansevieria-zeylanica
viewed with polarizing microscopy. Mauersberger (1947) feel that in microscopic
appearance the Senseviarias closely resembles the furcraeas, although there seems to
be more scierenchymous fibre in these than in most structural fibres. Individual fibres
are approximately cylindrical in longitudinal shape, with rounded ends. In cross-section
their shape is polygonal. The lumens are large, thus causing the angles of the cells to
be sharp, which largely serves to distinguish Sansevieria from the furcraeas. 19 The
sansevieria fibres resemble sisal hemp in general properties, but there is a considerable
diversity in character between the products derived from different species. The leaves
arise from the base of the plant, and vary in length from two to six feets or more.
Several species of sansevieria, including S. guineensis, S. ehrenbergii, S. cylindrica, S.
sulcata, S. stuckyi and S. volkensis grow wild over extensive areas of the East Africa,
and in 1905 the extraction of fibre, was under taken on a commercial scale, however the
preparation of this fibre has declined and attention has been transferred to the
cultivation of sisal, reports Goulding (2007).

Sansevieria trifasciata is a species of genus Sansevieria, native to tropical West Africa.

It is an evergreen herbaceous perennial plant forming dense stands, spreading by its
creeping rhizome, which is sometimes above ground and underground. It has stiff,
fleshy and sword-shaped leaves grow vertically from a basal rosette. Mature leaves are
dark green with light gray-green cross-banding and usually range between 70 — 90 cm
in length and 5 — 7 cm in width. Old plants occasionally flower on three-foot long stems
bearing small, tubular fragrant, greenish-white flowers (Henley, 1982). It is commonly
called the snake plant, because of its leaves resembles some snake skins or mother-in-
law's tongue because of their sharpness. Sansevieria plants can be propagated by leaf
cuttings with leaves cut into three inches long segments and then stuck in soil, with the
bottom end down. In about three months, the plants will root and send up a new shoot
or also propagated by dividing the rhizome. The first method has the disadvantage that
the variegation is likely to be lost. If the variegated form is propagated, it will produce a
normal green shoot because the plant is a chimera which is a kind of mutation.

Report from Anis and Shahzad, 2005 shows that the regenerated shoots of certain
species such Sansevieria cylindrical in tissue culture method displayed a unique
characteristic of flattened green leaf blade resembles Sansevieria trifasciata in the
beginning as compared to cylindrical blade in parental plants but acquired normal leaf
morphology after 18 months of acclimatization.

Sansevieria trifasciata "Laurentii", the goldband Sansevieria or Variegated Snake Plant

is native to Africa. It has stiff sword-shaped leaves with upright growth up to 4 feet (1.3
m) long by 2.75 inches (8 cm) width. Leaves are banded yellow on either side with a
deep green, lightly banded center. It is the leading commercial variety of Sansevieria. It
is grown for the hemp-like fiber in the leaves, which is called bowstring hemp. They are
an attractive plant for pot culture and are very durable to a wide range of condition.
They tolerate the low light conditions and are very drought tolerant. Sansevieria
trifasciata "Laurentii" are propagated by division of rhizomes (Henley,

1982).