DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 255 



Oteri (New Guin.). Cocos nucifera. 

 Oulemari (Fr. Guian.). See Gouratari. 

 Ovao (Tahiti). Wikstroe7nia foetid a. 

 Ozonium auricomum (see under Fomes). 

 Paat, and Pat (Ind.). Jute. See Corchorus. 

 Pachira alba. 



This plant is the best known representative of a tropical American genus of Sier- 

 culiacece, allied to Adansonia, the baobab tree of Africa. The fruit is an oval, woody 

 single-celled capsule, with a number of divisions and containing numerous seeds, 

 covered more or less with down or seed hairs, forming a head of vegetable wool. 



Fiber. — These plants yield both bast and surface fibers, the former in the bark, 

 the latter in their seed vessels. P. alba is a New Granada species that is said to 

 "furnish the entire country with cordage, both strong and durable." 



Among other species may be mentioned P. barrigon, Panama, the seed hairs of 

 which are used to stuff pillows and cushions. P. insignis is a small West Indian form 

 mentioned as a fiber plant in the Flax and Hemp Commission list. Savorgnan enu- 

 merates P. aquatica from Martinique. "Fiber from the bark used for fishing nets 

 and ship cables, and wadding is made from the down of the seeds." 



The Mexican fiber known as Majagua clavellina is said by Dr. Ernst to be produced 

 from P. fastuosa, referred to by Oliva in La Naturaleza, v. 89, as Carolinea fastuosa. 

 The genus Carolinea was erected by the younger Linnaeus, but, by the law of priority, 

 botanists usually accept Pachira. 



Pachyrhizus angulatus. Short-Podded Yam Bean. 



This valuable economic plant is widely cultivated in the Tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres, and yields tuberous edible roots as well as pods. Like many other species 

 of the Leguminosse, its stems are fibrous. The plant is known on the Fiji Islands as 

 Yala or Wayaka, and from its twining stems a tough fiber is produced that is used 

 in making fishing nets. See Kew Bull., May, 1889. Compare Dolichos trilobus. 



Pacoa (Is. Eeunion). Pandanus utilis. 

 Paederia fcetida. 



An Indian climbing plant, of the Bubiaceo?, which has recently attracted considera- 

 ble attention, as it yields a strong flexible fiber, silk-like in appearance. Indian 

 name, Beclolee sutta. 



The plant could doubtless be cultivated; moreover the supply of wild plants 

 would not readily be exhausted, as on the plains, where they thrive best, the grass 

 is burned down annually, and, during the rains, the roots throw up fresh shoots. The 

 proper time for collecting the plant is the cold or dry season; during the rains the 

 fiber comes off dirty and discolored. The stem is divided into sections, a joint occur- 

 ring at every 12 to 24 inches. The cut stems, while still green, are divided at the 

 joints, and the fiber is removed in the following way: The operator takes each sec- 

 tion in both hands, and twists it as much as possible, to disengage the fibers, having 

 first carefully stripped off all the bark of the stem. He then disengages at one end 

 enough of the fiber to take hold of, and gradually strips it entirely away. The proc- 

 ess would be too slow, laborious, and costly for commercial purposes. Machinery 

 has not yet been applied to it. Probably a pair of crushing rollers and a simple 

 scutching apparatus would suffice. (Spon.) 



Paglia di capelli (It.) (Straw-plait). See Triticum. 



Paina (Braz.) = Silk Cotton. See Bombax and Eriodendron. 



