DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 197 



twigs when in flower. Its fleshy calyxes, of a pleasant acid taste, are mnch employed 

 for making tarts as well as jelly, and in the West Indies the fruit is much esteemed 

 for making cooling drinks. Another culinary use of the plant in India is the prepa- 

 ration of its leaves in salads. The species grows in southern Florida, where it is 

 planted in March and comes to maturity in Decemher. 



Bast Fiber. — A superb sample of this fiber was shown in the exhibit of British 

 Guiana, W. C. E., 1893, which was accompanied hy the stalks some 10 feet high, as 

 straight and clean as jute stalks. 



The fiber Avas equal, if not superior, to much of the jute which comes to this 

 country. In my examination for award it was given the following rating: Length, 

 90 points; strength, 75 points; color, 80 points; average, 81. G. 'The stem yields a 

 fiber (in Jamaica) which is fine and silky." (Faivcett.) 



E. N. Knapp states that the plant thrives in cultivation, but that it will not stand 

 much frost. It will grow on quite poor land, though it does best on good land, 

 where it reaches a height of 8 to 10 feet. It can he produced from cuttings as well 

 as from seed. Even in Florida it is much esteemed ior its fruit, which is used soon 

 after the blossoms fall. It is said to make an excellent jelly, and is used as a sauce, 

 much as the cranberry is used in the Northern States. 



*Specimens. — Field Col. Mus. ; U. S. Nat. Mus. ; Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. 



Hibiscus splendens. Hollyhock Tree. 



Fiber from this species, a native of Queensland and New South Wales, was received 

 from Victoria (Phil. Int. Exh., 1876), prepared hy Dr. Guilfoyle, who states that the 

 species is a splendid tree, growing to a height of 20 feet or more. "It is very pubes- 

 cent, hearing large pink flowers resembling hollyhocks in size and appearance. The 

 fiber is suitahle for cordage, fish lines, paper, etc." 



Hibiscus tiliaceus. The Majagua. 



Syn. Paritium tiliaceum. 



Native and common nameo. -Majagua (Venez.); Huamaga (Ecuador); Emaja- 

 gua, Damajagua, and Majagua (Peru) ; Mahoe-bord-la-mer (Trin. ) ; San (Hawaii) ; 

 Bola (Beng.); Belli patti (Bomb.) ; TMriban (Burm.) ■ Bellgobel (Ceyl.). 



The species abounds in Central and South America, India, tropical Australia, and 

 the Pacific Islands. " It was generally cultivated in America prior to 1492." 



Bast Fiber. — The samples of fiher examined are not as good as the hest jute, 

 though, according to Roxburgh's experiments, it gains in strength hy heing wet, a 

 point in its favor. The following results were recorded: "A line broke when white 

 with a weight of 41 pounds, after heing tanned with 62 pounds, and after having 

 heen tarred with 61 pounds. A similar line macerated in water for 116 days hroke 

 when white with 40 pounds, tanned 55 pounds, and tarred 70 pounds. These obser- 

 vations are of great interest, for, of the other fibers experimented with hy Roxhurgh, 

 the majority were rotten after maceration, and no other fiher showed so marked an 

 improvement for cordage purposes when tarred. English hemp and Indian grown 

 hemp, treated in the same manner, were found to he rotten, and sunn hemp hroke 

 with 65 pounds, and jute with 60 pounds." 



Mahoe-bord-la-mer does not grow inland in Trinidad, hut is found on the seashore. 

 The fiber, of fair quality, is obtained in lengths of 4 to 6 feet. " There are no large 

 numbers of the trees existing and little manufactured. The hast is used for making 

 ropes when the native has no money to buy hemp or manila. Ropes so made are 

 good and strong, hut there is little prospect of the trees heing produced in quantity. 

 They grow 15 to 20 feet high with stems 8 to 20 inches in diameter." 



In Peru, where it is known as Dar.njagua or Emajagua, it is largely used hy the 

 Indians for the manufacture of ropes and cords. In Ecuador, where it is also 

 known as Damajagua and Huamaga, it is used in lieu of cloth, a very fine sample 

 of a sheet of fiher a foot wide hy 2 feet in length, and as thick as felt, is preserved 



