I40 



General Botany 



derived from the monocots are usually coarser than the fibers 

 derived from dicots, because the monocot fibers are entire 

 bundles, while the dicot fibers are made up of only the strands of 

 bast cells from the food-conducting side. The bundle sheaths 

 are usually thicker in the bundles near the outer part of the mono- 

 cot stem. In fact, in some monocots, like rattan and bamboo, 

 the sheaths of adjacent outer bundles may join each other and 



l^ /V:: _ _ _ \_l^k^tii 



Tig. t)i. PlaiiULiuii ui abaca, a species of banana, from the petioles of 

 which Manila fiber is obtained. Abaca flourishes only in the Philippines. 

 The fibers are used chiefly in the manufacture of ropes. 



