74 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



The stem is from 8 to 12 feet high, irregularly ringed, and armed with long, scattered 

 "black spines. The leaves are terminal and of moderate size, regularly pinnate, the 

 leaflets spreading out uniformly in one plane, elongate, acute, with the terminal pair 

 shorter and broader. The petioles and sheathing bases are thickly covered with long 

 black spines generally directed downward, and often 8 inches long. The spadices 

 grow from among the leaves and are simply branched and spiny, erect when in 

 flower, but drooping with the fruit. The spathes are elongate, splitting open and 

 deciduous. The fruit is of a moderate size, oval, of a yellowish color, and with a 

 small quantity of rather juicy eatable pulp covering the seed. (J. B. Wallace.) 



This author also states that the cattle of the upper Amazon eat the fruit, which 

 is hard and stony, wandering about for days in the forest to procure it . There is 



scant reference to its fiber. It is 

 called the Murdrum in a pamphlet 

 ^H^ distributed by the Brazilian com- 



mission, W. C. E., 1893, where it is 

 stated that its fruit serves for food 

 for cattle and the stems of its new 

 leaves for braiding hats and making 

 baskets. It is also mentioned by 

 Orton. 



Astrocaryum tucuma. 

 Tecuma Palm. 



The 



In the list of Brazilian fibers pub- 

 lished by the Brazilian commission, 

 W. C. E., lS93,theJauary (A.jauari) 

 and the tueum (A. tucuma) are men- 

 tioned as valuable fiber-producing 

 plants. From A. tucuma "the fiber 

 is extracted for manufacture into 

 hats, baskets, ropes, and other useful 

 articles."' In Bernardin's list the 

 Tucum palm is given as Astrocaryum 

 vulgare (which see), found in Guaya- 

 quil, Guiana, and Trinidad. In the 

 Official Guide of the Kew Mus. the 

 Tecuma palm is given as A. tucuma, 

 the Tucum palm being A. vulgare. 



Structural Fiber. — Samples of 

 the fiber of A. tucuma were exhib- 

 ited in the Brazilian collection, 

 Phil. Int. Exh., 1876, and presented 

 to the United Sates Department of 

 Agriculture. 



It was stated that the fiber is obtained from the young leaves and is readily secured, 

 as it lies just under the epidermis of the leaf, which is so exceedingly thin that it is 

 easily rubbed off, leaving the fiber white and clean. Its strength was claimed to be 

 equal to flax. The filaments are so fine that it has received the name of vegetable 

 wool. In the specimens received by the Department the fiber had not been cleaned, 

 yet in some portions the bundles of filaments were clear and white, showing the 

 fiber to the best advantage. This was sufficiently strong for fine weaving, and from 

 the ease with which it is separated might he obtained very cheaply. "Its use in 

 Brazil is for the manufacture of nets, fish lines, and hammocks." Fig. 27 shows a 

 young and an old tree. 



While authorities agree that Tucum is an Astrocarj/um, Bactris setosa is mentioned 

 as the Tucum in a volume on the resources of Brazil distributed at the Philadelphia 



Pig. 27. — The Tecuma palm. Astrocarinnu tucuma. 



