FIBER PLANTS 



showing the annual imports and increasing values 

 during the past ten years : 



FIBER PLANTS 



289 



Phormium or New Zealand hemp. (Fig.' 401). 



The fiber known commercially as New Zealand 

 hemp and New Zealand flax is obtained from the 

 leaves of the Phormium hemp plant, Phormium 

 tenax, Forst., belonging to the- LiliacetB or Lily 

 family. Neither the plant nor the fiber has any- 

 resemblance to hemp ar flax. 



The plant is similar in habit to the common 

 blue flag or iris, but much larger. Its many 



Fig. 401. Kew Zealand bemp {Phormium tenax). 



coarse, grass-like leaves, one-half to one and one- 

 fourth inches wide and three to twelve feet long, 

 grow in dense clumps from perennial roots. A 

 flower-stalk bearing lily -like flowers grows at 

 length from the center of the leaf -cluster. The 

 old roots in the middle become weaker and die, and 

 the outer plants in turn become new centers of 

 growth. Many different varieties are recognized, 



B19 



varying in length and width of leaves, and in habit 

 as well as habitat. 



The plant is native in New Zealand, and is dis- 

 tributed in many parts of Australasia. It has been 

 introduced as an ornamental in California and the 

 southern states, and also in Europe, even as far 

 north as Ireland and Scotland. It is cultivated for 

 fiber-production on a commercial scale in New Zea- 

 land,' and to a small extent in southern Europe. It 

 is the only important hard-fiber plant of the tem^ 

 perate zones. In New Zealand it grows between 

 latitudes 35° and 45°, where it is subject to frost 

 and snow, but it will not endure the more severe 

 winters of our northern states. It grows best in 

 a rich, por.ous, sandy or loamy soil, moist but with 

 good drainage. Some of the varieties will grow in 

 swamps. 



It is propagated by transplanting roots. The 

 leaves are cut about once each year, and the fiber 

 is cleaned in part by machinery. The machines 

 thus far brought out leave the fiber but partly 

 cleaned, requiring considerable- hand-work to pre- 

 pare it for market. Under favorable conditions, 

 the plants yield 800 to 1,200 pounds of fiber per - 

 acre. 



The fiber is five "to ten feet long, reddish yellow or 

 nearly white. ' In color and appearance it resembles 

 abacS, but it is much softer, more flexible, usually 

 more finely subdivided and less strong. It is some- 

 what elastic, a valuable quality in tow-lines, and 

 it is less injured by salt water than other com- 

 mercial hard fibers aside from abaca. 



It is "used for fodder yarn, lath yarn, and either 

 mixed with sisal or abaca or alone for binder twine. 

 In New Zealand, and also in Europe, it is made up 

 into a great variety of woven goods. 



It has been quoted in the New York market at 

 one-half to one cent per pound less than sisal until 

 recently. The demand for it is gradually increasing. 



Mauritius hemp (Fig. 402). 



Mauritius hemp is a hard fiber obtained from the 

 leaves of the Mauritius fiber plant, Furcrcea fxtida. 

 Haw. (F. gigantea), belonging to the Amaryllidacece 

 or Amaryllis family. 



Aloes vert, as the plant is called in Mauritius, is 

 a perennial, with a rosette of sixty to eighty erect 

 or spreading, straight, rigid leaves, six to ten 

 inches wide, and four to eight feet long, similar in 

 appearance to agave leaves, but usually thinner 

 above the base in proportion to their size, and 

 somewhat plicate toward the apex. The terminal 

 spine is rather weak and the marginal spines weak 

 and irregular, or usually absent. The flower-stalk, 

 attaining a height of fifteen to fifty feet, bears a 

 rather loose panicle of drooping, light yellowish 

 green flowers, followed by bulbils. Suckers are 

 produced from the roots, and if the young flower- 

 stalk is broken, suckers are produced in abundance 

 from adventitious buds. 



Aloes vert is native in tropical America, but it 

 is widely distributed in the tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres. This and closely related species are the 

 "maguey "of Porto Rico, the "molina" of Hawaii, 

 the "pita floja" of Costa Rica, the "fique" of 



