£16 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



TJrticacece deserve mention from an industrial point of view, since 

 their liber is often textile. Without noticing JJriica dioica, canna- 

 Una, parvifolia, &c, which even in France have been suggested as a 

 substitute for Hemp, or Girardinia heierophylla? Pipturus propinquus? 

 and Maoutia Pvya* also used for textile fabrics in hot countries, we 

 must pause a little on the China Grass, Ma of the Chinese, 4 often 

 termed in France Chanvre de la Chine (Chinese Hemp). This is 

 Bcehmeria nivea' (fig. 541), a native of Tropical Asia, chiefly culti- 

 vated in the temperate and warm regions of the East, China, Bengal, 

 Assam, Silhet, &c. Its culture has also been essayed in the warmest 

 parts of Europe. The fibre obtained from it by steeping is the chief 

 textile material used by the inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago ; 

 from it they make cordage, nets, and especially body-clothing, that 

 is light, cool, readily absorbing the perspiration, strong, and most 

 durable against damp. 



1 Dcne., in Jacquem. Voy., Sot., iv. 151, t. 

 153. — Wedd., Monogr., 164, n. 1.- — Urtica 

 palmata Foesk., Fl. JEgypt.-Arab., 159. 



2 Wedd., Monogr., 4Al, n. 3. — Urtica ar- 

 gentea Foest., Prodr., n. 343. — U cinerascens 

 Bl., Pijdr., 497. From this good cord is made 

 in Tahiti. 



3 Wedd., Monogr., 477, t. 16, B. — Urtica 

 Pnya Wail., Cat., n. 4605. 



4 Or Chu-ma, Tchou-rna in China, Rhea in 

 Bengal, Ramie in Java, Caloiee in Sumatra. 



5 Hook & Abn., Beech. Voy., Pot., 214 ; in 

 Jonrn. of Pot. (1851), t. 8.— Miq., PI. Jungh., 

 33 ; Fl. Ind.-Bat., i. p. ii. 253.— Wedd., Mon., 

 380, t. 11, figs. 10-17 ; Prodr., 206, n. 25.— 

 H. Bn., in Diet. Encycl. des Sc. Med., x. 15. — 

 ? B. utilis Bl., Lid. Bij. (1853), n. 4.—B. 



tenacissima Gaudich., Voy. Uran., Bot., 500. — 

 B. candicans Hassk., Sort. Bog., 79. — Urtica 

 nivea L., Sort. Cliff-., 441; Spec., 1398.— U. 

 tenacissima Roxb., FL Ind., iii. 590. — Z7. candi- 

 cans Bl., Bijdr., 503. — Procris nivea Gaudich , 

 Voy. Uran., Bot., 499. — Pamium majus Humph., 

 Herb. Amboin., v. 214, t. 79. Decaisne [in 

 Rev. Sort., ser. 4 (1855), n. 9] considered the 

 Ramie (B. utilis), whose leaves are shorter and 

 not so white below, distinct from the Ma (B. 

 nivea). Royle is of the opposite opinion, and 

 makes them only forms or varieties of one and 

 the same species. — [See Wiesneb, Rohstoffe des 

 pftanzenreiches (Leips., 1873), 320-322, 386-389. 

 This book is a valuable compendium of Economic 

 Botany. — Tb.] 



