Plants Furnishing Fibre. 



The plants furnishing the fibre for the kapa fabric are mostly of two families 

 as at present classified, the Moracece or Mulberry, and Urticacecs or Nettle families. 

 To the former belong the following genera : — 



Morns, the Mulberry, furnishing through the silkworm a tissue. 

 Bronssonetia, the Paper-mulberry or Waoke ; the most important source. 

 Artocarpiis^ the Breadfruit or Ulu. 



Ficus, the Fig, found in all tropical countries, though not native to Hawaii. 

 Antiaris, the poisonous Upas tree. 



Of the latter are the following genera : — 



Piptiints, the Mamaki, second on Hawaii only to the Waoke. 

 B(£hvieria, a plant of fine fibre; many species used for cordage. 

 Neraitdia, the Oloa, and 

 Touchardia, the Olona, not used for kapa, but for most durable cords, etc. 



Outside of these closelj^ related families are a few other plants, not much used 

 but capable of furnishing good kapa : — 



Paritiiun, the Hau, a very valuable tree, and 



Thespesia, the Milo, with beautiful wood, both belonging to the Malvacese, and 



Rubus, the Akala or Raspberry, belonging to the Rosaceae. 



Celtis, one of the Elm family, used on the Nicobar Islands. 



All these we ma}' take up in this order and then pass in a less orderly manner 

 to the dye stuffs and perfumes, but treating these generall}' in the order of their 

 importance when known. Both the Morns and an allied Hawaiian genus, Pseudomorus, 

 we pass by as foreign to our subject, and take first the best known and most widel}' 

 spread source of the best kapa, Bronssonetia papyrifera, the Paper-mulberry. 



I shall give the generic description, as is customar}-, in the original form of 

 description, and then the distinguishing points of the species before us in the ver- 

 nacular. Where I have not had access to the original, or that is too incomplete, I have 

 taken the version given by Hooker and Bentham in the Genera Plantarum. 



BrouSSOnetia Vent. Tab. du Regne Veget., vol. iii, p. 547; Endl. Gen. n. 

 1S58. — Flores dioici. Fl. J : dense spicati, bracteati. Perigonium 4-partitum, laciniis 



ovatis, acuminatis, aestivatioue imbricatis, demum patentibus. Stamina 4, perigonii 



(119) 



