DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



73 



Ash (for basket splints). See Fraxinus nigra. 



Asimina triloba. The Pap aw of Temperate United States. 



Exogen. Anonacece. A tree. 



Abounds in eastern middle United States from Michigan to the Gulf. 



Fiber. — Derived from the inner hark, hut now scarcely employed for any purpose. 

 " The inner hark stripped from the branches in the early spring is still used by fisher- 

 men on the Ohio and other "Western rivers for stringing fish; formerly employed in 

 making iish nets" (C. S. Sargent). Dr. Havard states that the inner bark has a 

 tough hbrous texture, and in former 

 times was commonly used by the Indi- 

 ans for withes, strings, nets, etc. 

 Savorgnan states that the bast from 

 the inner bark of young sprouts is 

 very strong and lustrous. 



Assai Palm, of Para. (Braz.). 

 Euterpe oleracea. 



Astelia banksii. 



Endogen. Liliacece. A rush. 

 This species belongs to a genus of 

 rush-like plants found in the islands 

 of the southern ocean. The plant is a 

 native of New Zealand, and grows to 

 a height of 4 feet. "It is rich in fiber 

 suitable for ropes, paper," etc. The 

 fiber is of a dirty yellow color, the 

 "filaments" exceedingly coarse and 

 wiry; rather brittle when bent sharp- 

 ly, but of considerable strength when 

 tested with a lateral strain. The 

 * specimen m the collection of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture was prepared 

 by Dr. Guilfoyle. The leaves of A. 

 alpina which grow on the sand hills of 

 the coast ©f Tasmania are edible. 



Astrocaryum acaule. The Iu 

 Palm. 



Endogen. Palnuu. A palm, 8 to 

 10 feet. 



"This palm never has any stem, the 

 leaves springing at once from the ground. They are 8 or 10 feet long, slender and 

 pinnate. The leaflets are very narrow and drooping, and are disposed in groups of 

 three or four, at intervals along the midrib, the separate leaflets standing out in all 

 directions." (Wallace.) 



It is stated that this palm grows in the dry Catinga forests of the upper Rio Negro, 

 Brazil. The rind of the leafstalks is used by the Indians for making baskets. A. 

 ayri, another Brazilian species, is used in the manufacture of coarse articles. The 

 fiber is derived from the leaves. 



Astrocaryum murumuru. The Murumueu Palm. 



This is another South American species of palm. It grows "on the tide lands of 

 the lower Amazon, and on the margins of the rivers and gapos of the upper Amazon, 

 though it is possible that the two may be distinct species." Fig. 26 grows in Para. 



Fig. 26. 



-The Murumuru palm, Astrocaryum murtu- 

 muru. 



