354 



PLANTS AND MAN 



one a group of climbing palms known as rattans, and the other 

 a group of giant grasses called bamboos, which furnish very 

 pliable, woody products widely used in the manufacture of chair 

 seats, baby carriages, hampers, and other light pieces of furniture. 



Fig. 236. 



-Bamboos are giant grasses which furnish man with useful pliable 

 stems. 



Rattans are found in the hot humid forests of the East Indies 

 and elsewhere in tropical Asia. Their stems are long, flexible 

 and strong. A large quantity is shipped to the United States and 

 Europe, where it is used either whole or split, in the manufacture 

 of the above-named articles. 



Bamboos (fig. 236) often reach heights of one hundred feet or 

 more and a diameter of a foot. They occur in most tropical 



