BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
Campripcr, Massacuusetrts, Junge 30, 1961 Voi. 19, No. 9 
CARLUDOVICA PALMATA 
IN BROOMMAKING 
BY 
MeE.vIN LEE Bristrou 
Carludovica palmata Ruiz & Pavon is best known as 
the source material for ‘‘Panama’’ hats, the majority of 
which are manufactured in Ecuador (2). The leaves are 
also used to a lesser extent for matting, curtains, roofing, 
baskets, cigar-cases, purses, fly swatters and brooms (2, 
3,4). The petioles, when divided into strips, are used for 
making brooms in Honduras (1). 
At the eastern base of the Cordillera Oriental in the 
Comisaria de] Putumayo in southern Colombia, I re- 
cently encountered a household industry of broommak- 
ing from the dried leaf blades of Carludovica palmata, 
known locally as zraca. The brooms are made sporadically 
throughout the year at the convenience of the women 
of the household and are sold to an agent in the nearby 
town of Mocoa for twenty to twenty-five centavos each. 
Sent to the markets in the highland city of Pasto, they 
are resold for fifty to sixty centavos. 
The procedure of broommaking begins with the collec- 
tion of young, partially expanded leaf blades from plants 
in the vicinity of the house. They are spread on the 
ground near the home to dry in the sun for about four 
days, after which they are hung over a line strung be- 
'See References. 
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