112 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Central and South American collections at the W. C. E., 1893, and are preserved in 

 the National Museum and the Museum of the Department of Agriculture. These 

 always have the appearance of a hundle of straws. The leaf is split in narrow strips, 

 which are dried in the sun. Under the action of the heat they roll up into this straw- 

 fike form, and it only remains to bleach, and weave them. 



USES.— The leaves are plaited into many useful objects, the best known being the 

 celebrated Panama hats, which have been sold as high a $150 apiece. It is said that 

 rhe hats of superior quality are plaited from a single leaf without any joinings, 

 •cigar cases, small bags, and similar objects are also made from these leaves. 



* Specimens.— Mas. U. S. Dept. 



Ag. U. S.Nat.Mus. Phil. Corn. 



Mus. 



Carnauba palm (Braz.). 

 See Gopernicia. 



Carnestolendas (Yenez.). 

 Coch losperm t< m g o s 8 yp- 



hnn. 



Carolinea fastuosa (Mex.). 

 See PacMra. 



Carya. See Ricoria. 



Caryota urens. Kittool 

 Palm. Jaggery Palm. 



Endogen. Palmes. Palm 

 tree, 60 feet. See fig. 40. 



Common in the eastern and 

 western moist zone of India and 

 has long been known to the 

 native inhabitants of Ceylon. 

 "In places it has been intro- 

 duced by the natives into their 

 gardens, as it yields so much 

 that enters into the economy of 

 their daily life, while affording 

 a remarkable commodity in the 

 form of j aggery or native sugar." 

 (Handbook of Ceylon, W. C. E., 

 1893.) 



Structural Fiber. — Brownish black, the filaments straight, smooth, and glossy 

 It exhibits considerable tenacity and will bear twisting, as the liber is somewhat 

 elastic. Some of the filaments resemble horsehair very closely, and, drawn between 

 the thumb and nail of the forefinger, curl as readily as coir. Samples of fiber from 

 this palm as well as tow prepared from it were received from the Philippine Islands 

 and from Victoria, the latter prepared by Dr. Guilfoyle. It is'indigenous in north- 

 ern Australia. In Malabar it is called Shunda-pevna, in Burma Miribaw, and the Sin- 

 galese name is Kittul or Kittool. It is a beautiful tree, growing to a height of GO feet, 

 and surmounted by an elegant crown of graceful curved leaves. The tree is a foot 

 in diameter. The liber, which is black and very coarse, is useful for making ropes, 

 brashes, brooms, baskets, etc.; and a woollj -substance or scurf scraped from the leaf- 

 stalks is used for calking boats. It Is also extensively used in machine brushes for 

 polishing linen and cotton yarns, for cleaning llax fiber after it i^ scutched, for 

 brushing velvets, and other similar purposes. In Ceylon the black liber is manufac- 



Fio. 40— The Kittool palm, Caryota urens. 



