26 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



clearly defined, and the fibers of all species of such plants, when simply 

 stripped, are similar in form as to outward appearance, differing chiefly 

 in color, fineness, and strength. An example of a fine bast fiber is the 

 ribbons or filaments of hemp, and of a coarser form, the bast from the 

 linden or the cedar. In fig-. 3 are shown highly magnified filaments of 

 flax. A variation in form should be noted in the lace barks and the 

 paper barks, where the bundles of fibers which interlace may be peeled 

 off in the form of thin, flat strips. The woody fibers are only fibrous 

 in a broad sense, as their cellulose is broken down and all extraneous 

 matter removed by chemical means, as for the manufacture of paper 

 pulp or of artificial silk. The greater number are merely wood in 

 the form of flexible slender twigs or osiers that are useful for making 

 baskets; or the larger branches maybe split or subdivided into strips, 

 withes, or flat ribbons of wood, for making coarser baskets. The softer 



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Fig. 3. — Flax fibers: or, «', transverse sections of fibers; 6, fibers viewed in lengtb; c, points or ends 

 of fibers. Example of a bast fiber. 



woods still further subdivided give the product known as excelsior. 

 which can only claim a place in a list of liber plants because it is a 

 substitute for upholstery or packing material. 



Structural fibers are found in many forms, some of which may be 

 enumerated as follows: The stiff, white, or yellowish fibers forming the 

 structure of all fleshy-leaved or aloe-like plants, as the century plant, 

 the Yuccas, Agave, and pineapple, or the fleshy trunk of the banana: 

 as an example, sisal hemp of commerce; the coarser bundles of stiff, 

 fibrous substance which gives strength to the trunks, leaf, stems (mid- 

 ribs and veins), and even the leaves of palms, a good example being 

 Piassaba, derived from The dilated mar-ins of the petioles of a palm, 

 where they clasp the stem; these are made into thin strips which 

 afterwards split into smooth, cylindrical libers. Another example is 

 the stiff fibers extracted by maceration from the "boots" or bases of 

 the leaf stem- of the cabbage palmetto, or the shredded leaves of the 

 African fan palm, known as Grin v6g6tal. Other familiar examples may 

 be noted in strips of rattan, the fibrous material derived from bamboo, 



