PAPER FIBRE PLANTS. 135 



a musky odour, and have been used as a substitute for animal musk for 

 scenting powders and pomatums in toilets, etc. 



Needle Palm (Yucca brevifolia, Liliacese). The leaves of this plant 

 have been utilised for paper-making. Its stem has been called the Boss 

 Tree protector, against rabbits. 



The plant is a native of South Utah. Specimens of paper made from 

 its leaves have been presented to the Kew Museum by T. Routledge, 

 Esq. 



Nepal Paper (Daphne cannabina, Thymelacese). The famous Nepal 

 paper is produced from this plant and a species of another genus, 

 Edgeicorthia Gardneri. 



Sir J. D. Hooker, in his Himalayan Journals, says : " Most of the 

 paper used in Tibet is, as I have elsewhere noticed, made from the bark 

 of various species of Daphne, and especially of Edgeivorthia Gardneri ; 

 is imported from Nepal and Bhotan ; but the Tibetians, as MM. Hue and 

 Gabet correctly state, manufacture a paper from the root of a small 

 shrub. This I have seen, and it is of a much thicker texture and more 

 durable than Daphne paper. Dr. Thomson informs me that a species of 

 Astragalus (Milk Vetch) is used in Western Tibet for this purpose, the 

 whole shrub, which is dwarf, being reduced to pulp." * 



Nipa or Molucca Palm (Nipa fruticans, Palmacese). The pinnate 

 leaves of this fine palm have been much used for thatching houses, for 

 mat-making, and for the coverings of cigarettes. The plant is a native of 

 the East Indies. It has been recommended for paper-making. 



Sir J. D. Hooker, in his Himalayan Journals, mentions this palm as 

 follows : " Receding from the Megna, the water became salter, and Nipa 

 fruticans appeared, throwing up pale yellow-green tufts of feathery 

 leaves, from a short, thick, creeping stem, and bearing at the base of the 

 leaves its great head of nuts, of which millions were floating upon the 

 waters, and vegetating in the mud." 



Paper Mulberry or Tapa Cloth (Broussonetia papyri/era, Vent., 

 Moracese). The inner bark of this plant is used for the manufacture of 

 some strong and special kinds of paper. The bast tissue, when stripped 

 and washed, is white, and bears some resemblance to a fabric. It is 

 known as Tapa cloth. 



In China and Japan the plant is cultivated much as osier plants are 

 in England. In the processes of manufacture, the bark, after being 

 separated from the plant, is steeped in water till the inner and outer 

 layers can be separated from each other. The new or most internal bark 

 is the best, and is used for the manufacture. 



The finest white cloth, worn by the people of Otaheite and in the 

 Sandwich Islands, is made of this tree. Fig. 91 shows the bast tissue of 



