148 USEFUL FIBEK PLANTS OF THE WORLD 



Debregeasia hypoleuca. 



Exogen. Urticacea . A large shrub. 

 Abounds in the western temperate Himalayas; distributed to Afghanistan and 

 Abyssinia. Watt states that the different species of Debregeasia yield strong and useful 

 fibers, which are more or less extracted by the hill tribes of India. The liber of the 

 species named is valued in the Panjab for net ropes on account of its resistance to 

 the action of water. It is not steeped, but merely dried, and when brittle is beaten, 

 the liber separating readily. The liber is chiefly used by the natives for ropes with 

 which to tether their cattle. 



Debregeasia velutina. 



Another Indian species, which is found in the Himalayas from 2,000 to 2,500 feet 

 elevation, and at 7,000 on the Xilgiri hills. 



In the Madras Manual of Administration (Vol. I, 313) it is mentioned as one of the 

 chief fiber plants of the Presidency. The manager of the Glen Pock Fiber Company, 

 Wynaad, is reported to have sent a consignment, presumably of this liber, to London. 

 It was valued at £70 per ton. Of the Madras Presidency it is commonly stated that 

 it is much used both by the natives generally and the managers of coffee estates. 

 Mr. J. Cameron, superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Bangalore, states that "this 

 is one of the commouest and most conspicuous plants in the Wynaad and Nilgiri 

 sholas. Its fiber is used for bowstrings, and it would only appear to require to be 

 better known to be much appreciated." 



D. wallichiana, Indian, also yields a fiber lit for cordage, and D. edulis is a Japanese 

 species that has been recommended for cultivation in Victoria. 



Deckanne or Deccan hemp (Ind.). See Hibiscus cannabinus. 

 Deishar (Arab.). Abutilon indicum. 

 Dendrocalamus strictus. 



An Indian species of bamboo, the crushed stems of which have been an article of 

 export for paper making. See Bambusa. 



Deorajute (see Corchorus). 



Derris scandens. 



A handsome climbing shrub belonging to the Leguminosa?, met with in the eastern 

 Himalayas and western Ghats of India, the bark of which affords a coarse cordage 

 fiber. 



Desi jute (see Corchorus). 

 Desmodium molle. 



Exogen. Leguminosa>. An annual shrub. 



A species of forage plant which abounds in Georgia and Florida, and which a 

 Georgia writer considers as good, for the locality, as clover. 



Specimens of the canes were submitted to the Department as of possible utility 

 in fiber production. The fiber is, however, of doubtful utility for any purpose, with 

 the disadvantage of a small yield. A stem free from branches and (i feet high can 

 easily be grown in sandy soil if the seed is sown thickly. 



Desmodium tiliaefolium. 



This is an Indian species that is extensively employed for rope making and is also 

 used for paper manufacture in the Himalayas. It is said thai the liher is exported 

 to Tibet from Kumaon for paper stock. 1). latifolium, India and Ceylon, is used for 

 the same purpose. 



