DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 85 



Boehmeria spp. Stingless Kettles. 



This genus of Urticacece comprises 40 or more species found, in both hemispheres, 

 and is closely allied to the genus Urtica, the plants of which have stinging hairs. 

 They are herbs or shrubs producing slender stalks, clothed with large, obovate 

 leaves. There is but one American representative of the genus, Boehmeria oylindrica 

 (the false nettle), an annual plant found in waste lands from Ontario, Canada, to 

 Minnesota and southward from Florida to Kansas. It has no value as a fiber plant. 

 B. caudata is a Brazilian species used only medicinally, and B. stipularis is found in 

 the Sandwich Islands, its bark having been used to a slight extent for making 

 "kapa," or native beaten cloth. An allied species, Pipturus gaudichaudianus, for- 

 merly included in the genus Boehmeria, is also used in this manner by the natives of 

 these islands. Other Indian species are B.polystachya, B. sidafolia, B. didymogyna y , etc. 



Among the species native to India, of which there are nearly a score, are found 

 some better fiber plants, though not worthy of special mention. I may note, how- 

 ever, B. macrophylla, which abounds from Kumaon to the Khasia hills, and which 

 yields a beautiful fiber much prized by the natives for fishing nets. B. platyphylla 

 is a south Indian species which produces a strong cordage bast, and B. malabarica is 

 found in the tropical forests of India, Burma, and Ceylon. This species yields a very 

 tenacious fiber which has found use in Ceylon for fishing lines. 



The commercially important species of Boehmeria are B. nivea and B. tenacissima, 

 full descriptions of which are to be found below. See fig. 1, PI. VIII, the upper 

 portion of a stalk of B. nivea, showing form of leaves. 



Regarding the identity of these two species, particularly in relation to their com- 

 mon names, so much confusion has existed that Dr. Morris, of the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, has proposed the following economic classification, which has been adopted: 

 Series A — Boehmeria nivea. 



1. China grass. The commercial fiber, hand cleaned in China. 



2. China grass. Stripped bast or ribbons (hand or machine). 



3. China grass Fiber prepared (hand or machine). 

 Series B — Boehmeria tenacissima. 



4. Ramie or Rhea. Ribbons or stripped bast (hand or machine cleaned). 



5. Ramie or Rhea. Fiber prepared (either hand or machine). 



It should be further noted that B. nivea is the temperate and subtropical species, 

 while B. tenacissima thrives best in subtropical and tropical climes. 



There are several allied species which produce superior fiber, among which may 

 be mentioned Haoutia puya, found in India. See also Touchardia latifolia, which 

 produces the Olona fiber of the Sandwich Islands, a textile that should be better 

 known. 



Boehmeria nivea. China Grass. 



Exogen. Urticacece. Shrub 5 to 8 feet as cultivated. 



Native names. — The following names have been used indiscriminately to desig- 

 nate the two commercial species of Boehmeria (see economic classification 

 under Boehmeria) : China grass, Rhea, Ramie (Eng.) ; Ramio and Ramie (Span.) ; 

 Ortie Blanche sans dards de Chine (Fr.)'j Ramie, Rameh (Java); Tsjo, Mao, and 

 others (Jap.); Tchou-ma and others (China); Klooi, Caloee, etc. (Siam); 

 EanJchura (Beng.); Poah (Nepal) ; Goun (Burm.), and many others. 

 Indigenous in India, and probably also in China, Japan, and the Indian Archipel- 

 ago, but introduced by cultivation into the warmer parts of Europe and North and 

 South America. 



The China grass (B. nivea) is a shrubby plant with the habit of the common nettle, 

 but without stinging hairs. There are numerous straight shoots that arise from the 

 perennial rootstock to a height of 4 to 8 feet. The leaves are on long petioles, 

 broadly heart-shaped, with serrated -edges and white, downy beneath. The seeds 

 are small, and produced somewhat sparingly. This is the original China grass plant 



