CHAPTER XV 



FIBER PLANTS 

 ABACA 



The Banana Family. Abaca is the name of a plant, 

 Musa tcxtilis, and of the fiber extracted from this plant. 

 Musa is the banana genus, and abaca and banana plants 



FIG. 94. Field of abac;i in Albay 



are very much alike. They have no very large roots, 

 but many small ones, which do not run very deeply into 

 the ground. There is a short, branching, underground 

 stem, but the real erect stems do not become tall until the 



