FIBRES. 287 



of considerable fineness are now made from it. It is some- 

 times woven with silk. 



266. A few plants yield Bast in wide long strips, which 

 need no further preparation for weaving into mats or for 

 wrapping certain wares. It is the inner bark which is the 

 hast, and is called the endopJilaem. The bast-cells may be 

 in rows, or single in the parenchyma. They vary much as 

 to length, strength, etc. In Europe (especially in Russia) 

 large quantities are obtained from the Linden-tree, Tilia 

 parvifolia (family TillacecB). The tree is cut and the bark 

 removed in May. This is thrown in water, and left for 

 several weeks ; when taken out and dried, it separates into 

 thin layers, corresponding to the annual rings of growth. 

 A tree of moderate size yields about ninety pounds, from 

 which ten or twelve mats are made. The finest are made 

 from the inner layers. The bast from Sterculia vilhsa 

 (family Sterculiaceai), a tree of India, has long been used 

 for ropes, strings, etc. It is composed of many annual 

 rings, or layers, like the Linden bast, but not so easily 

 separated as that. The bast of Holoptelea integrifolia 

 (family UrticacecB), of the "West Indies, is thicker than 

 Linden bast, for which, however, it is often substituted. 

 Bast is obtained for various purposes from numerous other 

 trees in diflTerent countries. 



267. From the leaves of the Flax-Lily, Phormium lenax, 

 of the Lily family (LiliaeecB), the New Zealand Flax is 

 obtained. The plant has firm leaves four to six feet long. 

 The scape bearing the panicles of red flowers is sometimes 

 more than ten feet high. Cook, in his first voyage around 

 the world, gave information of this New 2kaland plant. 

 It is now cultivated in the East Indies, Australia, etc. 

 The fibres in the leaves are numerous, amounting to about 



