124 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Cocos urispa. 



I include this species on the authority of M. Bernardin. Two varieties of Corojo 

 are given in Bernardin's Catalogue, the "Corojo de la teua v from Cuha stated to he 

 u Cocos urispa," and the Corojo, Corozo, or Coeoyal from Central America, without 

 name. See C. crispa. 



Cocotcro (Mex.). See Cocos nucifera. 



Coeoyal (Oeut. Am.). See Acrocomia. 



Cocuiza (Venez.). Furcraa gigantea. 



Cocuy (Yenez.). See Agave americana. 



Coir. Fiber of Cocos nucifera. 



Cokerite palm (Braz.). See Maximiliana regia. 



Colocasia antiquorum. 



A genus of Aracew, allied to Caladium. The species named is cultivated in most 

 tropical countries as a food plant, hoth its leaves and tubers being eaten. It fur- 

 nishes the " Poi" of the Sandwich Islands. Is only interesting here from the fact 

 that fiber prepared from the plant in Mauritius was sent to the Vienna Exposition 

 of 1873, similar specimens being exhibited in the Kew Mus. 



Colorado River hemp (IT. S.). See Sesbania macrocarpa. 



Commersonia fraseri. Tie Plant of Australia. 



Exogen. Sterculiacece. A small tree. 



A Victoria species known in some sections as Blackfellow's hemp. It is a tall 

 shrub or small tree, and abounds on the banks of rivers and creeks. The hark is 

 used extensively by the settlers as a tying material. It yields a fine fiber suitable 

 for matting and cordage, and a good quality of paper could doubtless be made from it. 



Bast Fiber. — The museum specimen was obtained from the Victorian collection, 

 Phil. Int. Exh., 1876, and was prepared by Dr. Guilfoyle. The fiber is quite dark, 

 due probably- to insufficient bleaching, but is strong and not very brittle, and 

 although the filaments are stiff, they'exhibit under the magnifying glass a very 

 fibrous nature, some of them being fine and lustrous ; is inferior to Hibiscus fiber. It 

 measures between 2 and 5 feet in length. 



Commersonia echinata. 



A sample of this bast fiber was secured from the New South "Wales Exhibit, Phil. 

 Int. Exh., 187G, labeled "Brown Kurrijong," by which name it is said to he known 

 to the colonists. The name has been applied by other authorities to C. platyphylla. 

 "The fiber of C. echinata is of a very tenacious nature, and is preferred to all others 

 by the aborigines for making nets." The fiber is quite dark and does not appear to 

 be quite as strong as that from C. fraseri. 



Copernicia cerifera. Camauba palm. 



Endogen. Palmce. Height, 40 feet. 



The genus includes six species-of palms inhabiting tropical America. The Car- 

 nauba or wax palm is a Brazilian species about 40 feet high, with a trunk 8 inches 

 thick. u It has been recommended for culture in Victoria. It resists drought to a 

 remarkable degree and thrives on a somewhat saline soil." (Spon.) 



Structural Fiber. — The leaves are utilized in a variety of native manufactures. 

 The museum series includes the leaf, plaited into hats, mats, etc. ; the leaf reduced 

 to filaments and made into rope and small cordage ; small baskets and other brie- 



