The texture in shear flow is discussed for nematic solutions of rodlike poly(1,4-phenylene terephthalamide), reported here, and poly (1,4-phenylene-2,6-benzobisthiazole), reported elsewhere. These are similar, with a sequence of scattering and visual features that develop with time, terminating at a level characteristic of the shear rate in steady state. With increasing shear rate in torsion between parallel disks, steady-state flow reveals sequentially a diffuse scattering with a turbid appearance, diffuse scattering with an opalescent appearance, a broad elliptical scattering along the radial direction with poorly-defined striations, a sharp scattering along the radial direction with well-defined striations along the flow, and a clear, highly birefringent sample, with little scattering. These same features are seen, in the same sequence in time, in transient behavior leading to steady state. This behavior is attributed to the development of striations with twist distortions alternating in angle relative to the flow, and essentially in the sample plane in the fast steady-state flow, reflecting the lower free energy of that distortion in comparison with bend and splay distortions, especially near the parallel plates of the rheometer. The deterioration of this texture at slower flows is associated with increasing distortions out of the sample plane, leading to an essentially chaotic spatial distribution of the order tensor at a slow flow. (C) 2003 The Society of Rheology.