620 AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS. 
9. Commersonia echinata, /ors/., N.O., Sterculiacez, B.FI., i., 
243. 
“Brown Kurrajong.” 
The aboriginals use the fibre of the bark for kangaroo and 
fishing nets. A great deal of crushing is necessary to extract the 
fibre, as the bark contains a very large quantity of mucilaginous 
matter, which is exceedingly difficult to remove either by hot or 
cold water, but which, however, can be removed by alkalis. The 
fibre is very long, and not interlaced like that from Laportea gigas ; 
it is very strong when moist, but becomes hard and breaks more 
readily when dry; this is owing to the glutinous matter, which 
remains in it and dries hard. (H. Lardner.) A thorough and 
complete crushing seems absolutely necessary before it can be 
cleaned. This plant is not endemic in Australia. ' 
Northern New South Wales and Queensland. 
10. Cordia Myxa, Linn., N.O., Borraginez, B.FI., iv., 386. (For 
synonyms, see p. 19.) 
The “ Sebesten Plum”’ of India. 
In India the bark is made into ropes, and the fibre is used for 
caulking boats. The leaves are used as plates, and in Pegu to 
cover Burmese cheroots. (Gamble.) 
Queensland. 
11. Orotalaria juncea, Linn., (Syn. C. oblongifolia, Hook.; C. 
Mitchelli, F.v.M.); N.O., Leguminosz, B.FL, ii., 179. 
The “Sunn Hemp” of India. 
This plant is extensively cultivated in various parts of Southern 
Asia, particularly in India, on account of the valuable fibre yielded 
by its inner bark. The stems, after being cut, are steeped in water 
for two or three days in order to loosen the bark; they are then 
taken out in handfuls and bent so as to break the interior wood 
without injuring the fibre; the operator then beats upon the 
surface of the water until the fibrous part is entirely separated, 
when it is washed and hung upon bamboo poles to dry, and after- 
wards combed to separate the filaments from each other. The 
fibre thus obtained is very strong, and is considered to be equal, if 
not superior, to some kinds of Russian hemp ; it is employed for 
