244 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Muhlenbergia pungens. 



Endogen. Graminece. A perennial grass, 12 to 18 inches high. 

 Common names. — Black grama, Grama China; Native liopi Indian name, Wiigsi, 

 from wiigli, woman, sihii, flower, a satiric name. 

 Grows abundantly in Nebraska, southward to New Mexico and Arizona, and along 

 the Colorado River above Fort Yuma. "A rather rigid perennial, with firm, sharp- 

 pointed leaves and open panicles. It has strong, creeping roots, and often does good 

 service as a sand hinder. In the sand hills region of Nebraska it grows abundantly 

 around the borders of the so-called 'blow-outs,' preventing their extension and 

 assisting materially in restoring the turf. In some parts of Arizona where it occurs 

 it is a valuable forage plant." (Scribner.) 



Structural Fiber. — "The Hopi women of Arizona use this grass as a brush, the 

 same bunch of grass serving a double purpose — with the stiff end they brush the 

 hair and with the more flexible tip end they sweep the floor." (./. Walter Fewkes.) 



Muhuba-branca. 



Native name of an unidentified species of timber tree, 30 to 40 feet high, growing 

 on the banks of the Amazon. The bark is used for calking canoes. A reddish dye 

 is also obtained from the bark, used for coloring fishing lines. 



Muka. 



According to Royle, a native name of New Zealand flax fiber. 



Mulberry. 



The white , Morns alba ; the Indian , M. indica; the black , M, 



nigra ; the red , M. rubra; paper , Broussonetia papyrifera ; Virginia , 



AT. rubra. 



Mummy cloth. 



The linen of ancient Egypt, employed as "winding sheets" for the dead, hundreds 

 of yards sometimes being used to wrap a single body. Made from flax. 



Munj grass or Munja (Iiid.). See Saccharum. 

 Muntingia calabura. 



Exogen. Tiliaceoz. 



Habitat, tropieal America. It abounds in the West Indies and South America, 

 where its wood is valuable for many purposes, and especially for making staves. 

 In Venezuela it is known as Majaguillo. 



Bast Fiber. — Specimens were received from the Venezuelan exhibit, Phil. Int. 

 Exh., 1876, prepared by Dr. Ernst, who stated that its bark was sometimes used for 

 coarse ropes and cordage. Its bast is very soft and pliable, twists easily, and if used 

 in this manner, without attempting to separate or clean the fibers, is possessed of 

 ordinary strength. The fibrils are exceedingly fine and silky, so much so that the 

 bast, when broken, exhibits at the point of rupture the flossy appearance always 

 seen at the raw ends of skein or embroidery silk. Separating the fiber would 

 undoubtedly diminish its strength. It is employed slightly in Santo Domingo for 

 cordage. 



Murarb (Braz.). See Bauliinia splendens. 

 Murier. French for mulberry. See Morns. 

 Muriti palm (Braz.). See Mauritia vinifera. 

 Muru-muru (Braz.). See Astrocaryum murumuru. 

 Murdrum (see Muriti, above). 



