207 





being about two feet from the next, and the plants are put in 

 about one foot below the surface. When the grass has become 

 firmly established Mangrove seedlings have been planted amongst 

 it, and these appear to have flourished without any further trouble. 

 As the Mangrove3 grow they form so thick a shade that the grass 

 dies out, but by this time the Mangroves are now large enough to 

 prevent coast erosion without the aid of the Spartina. The value 

 of the " Wild Rice " grass then is due to the fact that it appears 

 to be the only plant which is able to establish itself in the soft 



mud on the seaward side of the fringe of Courida or 

 Mangrove, and in this position it accumulates mud on which it is 

 possible for the Mangrove to become established. 



New Garden Plants of the Year 1907,-Appendix III. of the Kew 



Bulletin for the current year, consisting of a list of plants new to 

 cultivation or of noteworthy plants reintroduced in iy07 has been 

 drawn up by Mr. Skan as in former years, and is now published 



Raffia fibre from Madagascar.-The fibre is derived from the 

 petiole of a species of Raphia. It, agrees so closely in microscopic 

 structure with a sample of fibre from the petiole STE2B 



imTCut^^- ?« the milsemn afc Kew > that th - e 2T5 



11 cue aoubt that this is the species concerned. 



A single fibre, when complete, consists of a vascular bundle 



enclosed in a fibrous sheath. In a transverse section or the whole 



he fibrous sheath, which is five or six cells in thickness is seen 



tSX^JS??**** tW .° P 0i ? ts ' The vascu Tar' bundTe 



masses 



arranged as in several other Palms. A single, LT s X 

 large amount of soft parenchymatous tissue lving between he 

 fibrous sheath and the woody part of the vascular bundle 



The structure of the petiole of another Kn^i^ „/ » i • 

 g mnifera, Beauv., var" taedigera) wasLaSd oy w^S 

 comparison. Here vascular bundles of a similar tvL LI 7 -?C 

 its fibrous sheath, are scattered over the cross XV ^ 

 embedded in soft parenchymatous tissue in whtch th?' bemg 

 certain number of much smaller bundles there are a 



The fibres are somewhat laterallv comnr*><j«Ari u^t 



oval in cross-section, and show two exSlioneitad nl, r ° nRhly 



corresponding to the interruptions in the flS, l^i 8 " 00 ^ 3 

 external surface is generally clean hntk. nt>rous sheath. The 



of the adjacent soft tissue (belong to th< ? nerT\ P ° r " ° M 

 adhering to it The greater diamete? o? tie fibres'^ hi T*? 

 varied from 1 to 1-5 mm., and one sneeim.n ™ , sam P le 



seven feet in length. As the fibrous soTt ^ ?s eomSivelv H <' J 



and as there is a large amount of soft ti«»„! ^J?",' 1 ^ « ln . 



resemble 



it differs from the fibres' in the loww wS nf* S.^* .*? **! 

 different species of Raphia. These have a 11 SSJEftfc ° f 



shea h, which encloses much less soft tissue with £ ^T* 

 bundle. They are consequently quite hJFLFrtiffLF** 11 ?* 

 the name of « bass ' or « pi asS aba ' fibre, are used for V«u ^ 



brooms m the same way as the corresponding «k/ f a ^ ng 

 Kenera of Palm* ""responding fibres of other 



