274 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



and is therefore included. " The preparation of the fungus for razor strops requires 

 that it be cut in the autumn, when its substance has become dry and firm, subjected 

 to pressure for twenty-four hours, carefully rubbed with pumice stone, slicedlongi- 

 tudinally, and pieces entirely free from the erosion of insects glued upon a wooden 

 stretcher. Tbe excellence of this material is probably due to the minute crystals it 

 contains beiug sufficiently hard to act upon the steel. Cesalpinus mentions this use 

 of fungous growths, and the barbers of that period were familiar with it It seems 

 strange that so valuable a material should have been overlooked in modern times." 

 (B. T. Galloicay.) 



P. squamosus, the Dryad's Saddle, maybe mentioned in the same category. Aferulius 

 lacrymans, the dry-rot fungus, the mycelium of which assumes various forms when 

 spread out in thick, skin-like sheets, serves also for razor strops. See also Xylostroma 

 giganteum and Fomes fomentarius. 



Polytrichum commune. Hair Moss. 



An interesting example of the economic use of this moss is a hammock preserved 

 in the Kew Mas. from Yorkshire; also '"'brooms from Sussex and from Berne in 

 Switzerland, where they are used by weavers under the name of Weber-Biirste, or 

 Win-el-Burste." 



Pooah (Ind.). Maoutia puya. 

 Populus deltoides. Cottonwood. 



Syn. P. monilifera. 



Exogen. Salicacecv. A tree, 75 to 150 feet. 



COMMON names. — Cottonwood, cotton tree, Carolina poplar, necklace poplar, etc. 

 Shores of Lake Champlain, Vermont, through southwestern New England to west- 

 ern Florida; west along northern shores of Lake Ontario to eastern bases of the 

 Rocky Mountains of Montana. Colorado, and New Mexico. Wood used largely in 

 the manufacture of light packing cases, fence boards, wood pulp, and for fuel. (C. S. 

 Sargent.) 



Bast Fiber. — The tree yields an abundance of long, soft, fibrous bark, used by the 

 Indians along the Colorado Eiver for ropes, twines, sandals, mats, etc. " Whoever 

 has seen the petticoats made of the inner bark of the cotton wood (P. frcmonti). 

 worn by the squaws along the Colorado Eiver, must have realized the possibility of 

 utilizing the same material as well as that of the allied species.*' (Dr. V. Harard.) 

 P. trichocarpa, the black or balsam cottonwood of the Northwest, is much used by 

 the northern California Indians for the brown work of the woof of their hats and 

 baskets. 



Potari (Beng.). Abutilon indicum. 



Pothos violaceus. 



A genus of Aracece, natives of India, China, Madagascar, New Holland, etc. 

 They usually have cord-like stems, and send out false roots, which attach themselves 

 to trees. P. violaceus, the wild cocoa, is named in the Flax and Hemp Commission list 

 as " a substitute for straw plait." The revised name of this species is Anthurium 



sea Helens. 



Pouk (Burin.!. Butea frondosa. 



Pouzolzia spp. 



The plants of this genus of Urticaoea are allied to the Boekmerias, and arc natives 

 of the Tropics of both hemispheres. P. pentandra, P. rhnima, audi', indica yield use- 

 ful cordage fibers in India. 



