DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 81 



Barbone (It.). Chrysopogon gryllus. 

 Barbari (Ind.). See Beaumontia. 



Barley straw. Employed in straw plait. See Hordeum. 

 Barrigon (S. Am.). See Ceiba. 

 Barriguda (Braz.). Iriartea ventricosa. 

 Bashofu (cloth, of Jap.). See Musa basjoo. 

 Basket manufacture. 



Baskets are made from grasses and sedges, from the lance-like leaves of freed and 

 similar plants, from palm leaves, and from the twigs of various dicotyledonous plants, 

 such as the willows, etc. See Salix viminalis, S. triandra, S. lasiandra, etc. ; Ehus 

 trilobata, Yucca brevifolia, Scirpus lacustris, Epicampes rig ens, Lygeum spartum, etc. 

 Also made from splints of ash, pine, hickory, and other woods. See Eraxinus. 



Bass fiber. Monkey or Para piassaba (see Leopoldinia piassaba) ; 



West African (see Baphia mnifera). 



Bass-like fibers (see Attalea funifera, Borassus flabellifer, and Dic- 

 tyospermum fibrosum). 



Bassia longifolia. 



An India species of Sapotacece mentioned by Liotard in his work on India paper 

 materials. 

 Bassine. Same as Palmyra. See Borassus. 



Bass-wood or Linden. See Tilia. 



Bast Fiber, Description of. See Introduction, j>age 25. 



Bastard Aloe. Agave vivipara. 



Bastard cedar (Jam.). See Guazuma. 



Batatas paniculata. Caffir, Cotton. See Ipomcea. 



Bauhinia coccinea. 



Exogen. Leguminoso?. Small tree. 

 A plant of Cochin China, the bark of which, according to the Manual Hoepli, 

 yields a very strong fiber ; the uses are not stated. 



Bauhinia racemosa. Maloo Climber. 



The Bauhinias are a genus of arborescent or climbing plants belonging to the 

 Leguminosce, and are found in tropical countries. 



Fiber. — The inner bark of this Indian species yields a bast fiber that can be made 

 into rude cordage, but which soon rots in water. It is reddish in color, very tough 

 and strong, and on account of this quality has been employed in India in the con- 

 struction of bridges across the Jumna. The stems are usually cut in July or August, 

 the outer bark being stripped off and thrown away, while the inner layers are used 

 for rope as wanted, being previously soaked in water, and are twisted wet. 



Other Indian species yielding fiber are B. macrostachya, B. tomentosa, B. purpurea, 

 B. anguina (the snake climber), and B. vahlii (the gigantic climber). (See fig. 31.) 



The uses of B. racemosa are, perhaps, more numerous than those of any other for- 

 est plant ; the strong cordage prepared from its bark is an important article with the 



12247— No. 9 6 



