Maize leaves and sheaths are cheap agricultural byproducts that contain an abundance, of amorphous hydrated silica (named phytoliths). However, there have been no attempts at utilizing the phytoliths to synthesize silica nanotubes. In this paper, we describe the morphologies and microstructures of phytoliths in leaves and sheaths of maize, and Synthesize hollow silica nanotubes using the phytoliths in cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) /sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) surfactant system. TEM and SEM images show that the phytoliths exist in cross and dumbbell shapes in maize. The silica nanotubes obtained from the, naturally deposited phytoliths exhibit special blue photoluminescence. This optical characteristic indicates that the agro-based waste materials may have potential applications in the fields of light localization and other integrated optical devices.