USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



of the Pacific Coast {A. eriocarpa, Benth.), char- 

 acterized by cream-colored flowers and foliage 

 clothed with a hoary hairiness. The commonest 

 Milkweed of eastern fields and waste places, A. 

 Syriaca, L., yields a fiber that has been used to some 

 extent in paper making, and for weaving into 

 muslins. In fact, the white man's interest in all 

 our wild fibers has been largely directed in latter 

 times to their adaptability to adulterating and 

 cheapening fabrics.* 



The most important of all our native fiber plants 

 are the Yuccas and Agaves. It is from Mexican 

 species of the latter genus — and possibly of both 

 genera — that the valuable Sisal-hemp, imported from 

 Mexico, is made, with which our United States 

 species have never successfully competed. Fiber 

 from the Yucca (probably Y. baccata, Torr.) was in 

 extensive use by the prehistoric people who built the 

 cliff dwellings of the Southwest, as is proved by 

 sandals, rope and cloth found in these remarkable 

 ruins. According to the Zuni tradition it was from 

 Yucca fibers that men made the first clothing for 



2 For many interesting details touching the general subject of 

 wild fibers, reference is made to Reports 5 and 6, Office of Fiber In- 

 vestigation, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, entitled respectively "Leaf 

 Fiber of the United States," and "Uncultivated Bast Fibers of the 

 United States," by C. H. Dodge. 



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