THE PALM TREES OF BRAZIL. 



399 



pairs of leaflets, instead of developing as leaflets, turn gradually back- 

 ward, thicken and stiffen at the base and thus form three or four 

 pairs of hooks by which the plant is drawn slightly forward and sup- 

 ported by whatever other plant these hooks happen to seize. 



Jacitdra bears bunches of small nuts about the size of ordinary 

 grapes, but, so far as I know, they are not utilized. The trunks are 

 used in some parts of South America as withes for binding together 

 the poles of wliich fences and some houses are built, and likewise for 

 chair bottoms and baskets. When the jacitdra grows in the deep dark 

 forests, its trunk reaches a great length. In the 

 southern part of the State of Bahia it grows upon _^'\^ 



open prairies where it has to depend upon itself for 

 support. Here it grows in thick clusters, and does 

 not reach a length of more than ten or fifteen feet. 



Palm Fibers. — One of the most useful products 

 of palms is their fiber. In his excellent work on 

 fiber-producing plants Mr. Dodge mentions fifty-six 

 palms that yield valuable fibers.* ]\Iost of the fibers 

 furnished by palms come from growths along the 

 sides of the petioles near their bases, where they look 

 like frazzled edges of burlap or some other coarse 

 cloth. These fibers, however, are produced in quan- 

 tity by certain species only. 



The most remarkable of the fiber-producers is \^r 



the piassdha palm (Leopoldina) of which there are 

 two species — one grows on the dark water tributaries 

 of Eio Kegro in the Amazon valley, the other grows 

 not far from the seacoast north of the city of Bahia 

 and also in the interior of the southern part of the 

 State of Bahia and in Minas. At both places the 

 piassdha fiber is an important article of commerce, 

 with the fluffy mass of dark-brown fiber is a remarkable sight. The 

 fibers are sometimes from ten to fifteen feet in length and look like 

 very coarse hair or a tangled mass of brown twine, streaming down 

 the trunk of the tree. 



After being cut these fibers have to be dried and baled, they are 

 then shipped to Europe and to the United States, where they are ex- 

 tensively used under the name of 'bast' for the manufacture of small 

 baskets, stiff brushes, street brooms and foot-wipers. In the Amazonas 

 valley they are used for making large cables which have the virtue of 



\1 \ 



^ 1 



Fig. 15. A PiassAba 

 Frond with its Fi- 

 bers. 



A palm draped 



• 'A Descriptive Catalogue of Useful Fiber Plants of the World.' By Chas. 

 R. Dodge. Report 9, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1897, 

 p. 256. 



