322 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



taking dyes readily. Some very line samples of the Brazilian fiber were received 

 through the Phil. Int. Exh., 1876, with the statement that it is extracted readily 

 and makes very strong cordage; "takes color well, and the dyes are lasting." In 

 the East Indies it has been used for the manufacture of paper. Spon states that 

 slips of sized paper weighing 39 grains made from this fiber sustained 75 pounds, 

 against Bank of England note pulp 47 pounds. Used in India for the manufacture of 

 sacking and twine, and is considered a fair substitute for flax; is easily extracted. 

 It is a common shrub in portions of Africa, and in Yorubaland is used for rope, and 

 as a tie material in house building. An allied form found in India. U. sinuata, yields 

 a similar liber that is employed for the same uses. This is known as the Hin appele 

 in Ceylon, and Kwnjia in Bengal. 



Urera subpeltata. Ortigao. 

 Exogen. Urticacece. A shrub. 



A genus allied to Urlica or the nettles. The species named occurs in southern 

 Brazil, where it is found in briary copses. It is medicinal, being often employed in 

 forms of tea made from the bark as a remedy for pulmonary diseases. It forms an 

 excellent food for horses. 



Bast Fiber. — It contains a strong fiber, from which the Indians make nets, their 

 short hip clothing, and other articles. It should be one of the best of the vegetable 

 productions for the manufacture of paper. Also called CansanciCio. (Alberto Lofgren.) 



Urera tenax. U3IBOGOzembe. 



Exogen. Urticacea. A shrub, 8 to 10 feet. 



This species abounds in Natal, and was brought to notice as a fiber plant at the 

 Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London, 1886. ''The shrub is of moderately quick 

 growth and is easily propagated. Plants have been reared for distribution, but no 

 one seems to care to give it a trial. One reason for this may be probably found in the 

 more or less complete failure of all machines yet invented for profitable extraction of 

 the fiber. Should such a machine be perfected, I believe the plant under notice 

 wonldbefound easier to work than the 'China grass.'" (J. Medley IVood.) (See fig. 102.) 



Fiber. — This is described as strong and of good color. Is used by the native> for 

 making sleeping mats. The stripped bast resembles China grass, but is more brittle 

 and is not so lustrous. The plant is figured in the Kew Bulletin for March, 1894. 



Urera sandwicensis. Opuhe. 



Abundant in the Sandwich Islands. Hillebrand describes this species in the 

 Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, and states that the plant yields a most valuable 

 fiber, especially esteemed by the natives, and used in the same manner as the oloua, 

 Touchardia latifolia, which see. U. alcecvfolia is a Tahiti species. 



Urtica spp. 



This genus gives its name to a large family of fiber-producing plants, the Urti- 

 cacece, the representatives of which are found in every country. The Vrticas are 

 commonly known as stinging nettles. The species of Boelimeria. such as ramie. China 

 grass, etc., which are closely related, differ in that they are deficient in the stinging 

 hairs which characterize many of the Urticas. and hence the name stingless nettle 

 one of the common names of the China grass plant. Bernardin names fourteen 

 species of Urtica as fiber yielding, though many of them have been referred to other 

 genera. Among the less important species are U. pilulifera and U. cannabina, 

 ( Oriental, and U. wrens, European. 



In the United States several species are recognized, one of which. U.dioica, has 

 been introduced from Europe. Another species has been recognized as a valuable 

 fiber plant and is treated under the title U. gracilis. U. urens and U. chamtrdryoides, 

 the former a Southern form, the latter more widely distributed, are of small impor- 

 tance as fiber plants. Urtica holosericea, of the >outhern Pacific States, yields a very 



