234 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WOKLD. 



Malvaviscus arboreus. Wild Maiioe. 



A genus of uialvaceous shrubs native ot' tropical America and Mexico. Said to be 

 found in Mauritius. 



Fiber. — A coarse bast, labeled Civil, secured from the Mexican exhibit, W. ('. E., 

 1n;»:>. was referred by Dr. Ernst to tbis species. Employed for native uses. Fiber 6 

 to 7 feet in length. Savorgnan states that it is an excellent textile material. 

 Specimen of the liber, Herb. Col. Univ.. X. Y. 



Mamaki (Hawaii). See Pipturus. 



Mamillaria senilis. 



A genus of Cactacece for the most part con line 



Fir,. 78. — The Bussi'i palm, Manicaria eaccifera. 



Mandgay (Bomb.). See Bambusa a run 

 Mandua (Ind.). Elexisine coracana. 



d to Mexico. M. senilis is also found 

 in Tern, known as Maicha. Dorca 

 states that it produces a surface 

 fiber, a kind of yellowish wool. 

 The revised name of this genus is 

 Cactus. 



The genus is, in most instances, 

 readily distinguished from its 

 allies by the fleshy stem, of which 

 the plants solely consist, being 

 entirely covered with tubercles of 

 a teat-like form, giving rise to the 

 generic name, from mamilla, a lit- 

 tle teat. These are disposed in a 

 series of spirals, each teat being 

 furnished at the top with a tuft of 

 radiating spines proceeding from 

 a kind of cushion. Af.pusilla is a 

 very pretty little spe< ies. growing 

 in crowded tufts usually of a hemi- 

 spherical shape. The mamillae, 

 which are about the size of grains 

 of wheat, have little tufts of white- 

 hairs between them and bear bun- 

 dles of spines, consisting of from 

 four to six straight stilt inner 

 ones and from twelve to twenty 

 outer ones like white hairs. (A. 

 smith.) 



M. coronaria, reaching 5 feet in 

 height, and M. clava, both Mexican 

 species, produce a '-white wool." 

 The filter is more curious than 

 useful. 



dinacea. 



Manicaria saccifera. Troolie Palm. 



NATl VE X A M E . — Btl88li. 



A Brazilian palm inhabiting the tidal swamps of the lower Amazon, the individual 

 leaves of which often measure 30 feet in length. I See fig. 7 s . 



Each gigantic leaf of the Troolie palm, Manicaria 8accifera } is really a shelter in 

 itself; and a few of these laid, without further preparation, so as to overlap like 

 tihs, make a perfect roof. Before corrugated zinc was introduced a large trade was 



