DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 329 



for dyeing purposes, and in the manufacture of lacquer for tinware. It also affords 

 a large percentage of wood spirit." X. longifolia is the dwarf grass tree of Victoria, 

 native tussock grass or mat rush of Dr. Guilfoyle's list. 



Xerophyllum tenax. 



Endogen. Liliacece. 



Coast Range, Monterey to British Columbia; also Sierra Nevadas. This liliaceous 

 plant has very stiff, slender leaves, that are admirably adapted for plaiting. 



Structural Fiber. — '-The plant is useful to the natives. Out of its very tenacious 

 leaves they weave the water-tight baskets which they use for cooking their victuals 

 in." (F. Pur ah.) ' 'Its slender leaves, 2 to 3 feet long, are strong, tough, and flexible; 

 they do not contain separable textile fibers, but are largely used by Indians for the 

 liner grades of their basket work. " {Dr. V. Havard). An allied species is found on 

 the Atlantic Coast, but it is not known to have been used economically. 



Xerotes longifolia. 



Endogen. Juncacece. A perennial rush. 

 Common names. — Tussock grass ; Australian mat rush. 

 Coast of Australia; especially common in Victoria in dry, open sand localities, 

 where it covers miles of country. 



Structural Fiber. — "It is reckoned as the best indigenous substitute for Esparto 

 for paper making" (Spon). The culuis are used by the Yarra tribe of southeastern 

 Australia for manufacturing baskets. The Kew Museum Guide notes a dilly bag 

 made from the culms of the Boombi (X. multiflora) in New South Wales. 



Xtuc (Mex.). Fiber of Yucca. 



Xylopia sericea. The Pindayba or Maeagtjete. 



Exogen. Anonacece. A tree. 



The species included in this genus are South American trees or shrubs, several of 

 which are found in Brazil and a few in the West Indies. They are noted for the 

 bitterness of the wood and for the aromatic properties of their fruit and seed. 



Bast Fiber. — The fiber of the species named, if so it may be called, is of the 

 coarsest description and consists only of the cortical layers of hark, which are torn 

 from the trees in ribbon-like strips. These have no use that can be dignified by the 

 name of manufacture, and are only rudely twisted or plaited by the natives into a 

 kind of coarse cordage, which is used to tie fences and sometimes to secure cattle. 

 A sample of this coarsely twisted rope was received from Brazil (Phil. Int. Exh., 

 1876), and is a little more than half an inch iu diameter, composed of three strands, 

 each of which contains about nine or ten of these ribbons or strips of bast, the 

 interior ones being quite harsh and woody. Doubtless, in skilled hands, finer speci- 

 mens of cordage might be produced, though, strictly speaking, it does not possess 

 fibrous material. It would be available for mats. 



* Specimens. — Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag., and Bot. Mus. Harv. Univ. ; labeled Embirama. 



Xylopia ; frntescena is another Brazilian species, which furnishes a fiber that has been 

 used for similar rough cordage. It is a native of Cayenne. X. grandiflora, also found 

 in Brazil, is known in Sao Paulo as Embira branca. "The wood of this tree is highly 

 esteemed, and from its bark is drawn a fiber which is strong and from which nets are 

 made." It is also called the Findaliyba or thorn tree. 



Xylostroma giganteum. 



This is the sterile mycelium of some Rymenomycete. It is found in trunks of trees or 

 logs, where it may form large masses, and sometimes between boards in lumber piles, 

 where it forms sheets perhaps a foot in breadth and several feet long. It is very simi- 

 lar to white or soiled kid leather, and makes excellent razor-strop material, probably 

 requiring no preparation beyond care in the selection of suitably soft pieces. (B. T. 

 Galloway.) 



