234 INDUSTRIAL PLANTS 
this is made the celebrated pina or pineapple-cloth of the 
Philippines—said to be the most delicate and perhaps the 
most costly of vegetable textiles. 
Fic. 220.—Southern Moss (Tillandsia usneoides, Pineapple Family, Bro- 
meliacee). A, plant in flower, growing attached to bark. 8B, flower, 
enlarged. C, flower, cut vertically. (Wittmack.)—Perennial herba-— 
ceous air-plant hanging from trees to a length of 1-2 m., without 
roots, covered with grayish scales through which water is absorbed; 
flowers yellow; fruit dry; seeds hairy. Native home, Southern United 
States to Brazil. 
Fig. 221.—Rush (Juncus effusus, Rush Family, Juncacee). Plant in 
flower, 3. Calyx, corolla, and stamens. Fruit. Seed, edge and side 
views. (Britton and Brown.)—Perennial herb 3-12 dm. tall, smooth 
throughout; flowers greenish; fruit dry. Native home, North America 
and Eurasia. 
The fiber extracted from the stem of the so-called southern 
moss (Fig. 220) by retting is strikingly like horsehair in ap- 
pearance and stiffness, and is largely substituted for it as 
