raw products used in textile manufactures.
| Common Name. | Botanical Name of the Genus and Species of the Plant by which the Fiber is produced. | Native Place, or where chiefly grown. | Qualities, Uses, etc. |
| Agave, or American aloe | Agave americana | Mexico, etc. | Various fabrics and paper are made from this and other species of agave. |
| Amadon | Polyporus formentarius. | Europe | The source of “German tinder.”
|
| Bamboo | Bambusa arundinaceae | Tropics | Paper, cloth, etc., of coarse kinds. |
| Banana | Musa sapientum | Tropics | Various fabrics; the fiber resembles flax. |
| Bast | (See Cuba and Lime) | | Twine.
Tying up cigar-bundles, etc. |
| Bowstring-hemp | Sanseviera zeylanica | India | Strong.
Used for cordage, etc. |
| Cactus fiber | Opuntia tuna, etc | Tropics | From layers of the stem.
Baskets, ornamental work, etc. |
| China grass, or Rhea | Boehmeria nivea | China, India, etc | Fine.
Linen, cambrics, nets, etc. |
| Cocoa-nut, or Coir | Cocos nucifera | Tropics | Strong and coarse.
Cordage, mats, brushes, bags, ropes, etc. |
| Cotton | Gossypium her baceum, etc | Warm countries. | Length, strength, etc., of fiber, various.
East Indian generally coarse and short; American finer and longer.
Sea Island and Egyptian have the longest fibers. |
| Cotton (silk) | Bombax ceiba | South America | A silky substance unfit for spinning.
Used for stuffing cushions, etc. |
| Cuba bast | Paritium elatum | Cuba, etc | A bark.
Used to tie up cigars. |
| Daphne | Daphne papyracea | India | Fibrous bark.
Used for making paper, etc. |
| Edgeworthia gardneri |
| Date-palm | Phoenix dactylifera | N. Africa and interior deserts | Plaited work, baskets, from the leaves. |
| Esparto-grass | Lygaeum spartum | S. Europe, etc | Coarse.
Matting, cordage, baskets, paper, etc. |
| Fan-palm (dwarf) | Chamaerops humilis | Spain, Italy Tropics | Mats, baskets, caps, etc., from the leaves. |
| Flax | Linum usitatissimum | Temperate climes | Varieties numerous.
Yarn, linens, cambrics, etc. |
| Flax (New Zealand) | Phormium tenax | New Zealand, etc | Strong.
Cloth, baskets, cordage, etc. |
| Grasses | Very numerous | Generally | Some species, as wheat-straw, used for making paper.
All afford fiber variously used; plait for bonnets, brushes, etc. |
| Grass-wrack | Zostera marina | Europ'n sea-coasts | A sea-weed.
Used for making mattresses, packing, etc. |
| Gunny, or jute | Corchorus capsularis | India | A coarse kind of jute.
Used for making bags, matting, etc. |
| Hair-moss | Polytrichum | England | A moss.
Used for stuffing cushions, etc. |
| Hemp | Cannabis sativa | Cool climates and India | In Europe used for cordage, coarse cloth, etc. In India grown for its intoxicating qualities. |
| Ita-palm | Mauritia flexuosa | British Guiana | Affords thread from leaves; of which baskets, fans, mats, etc., are made. |
| Ivy | Hedera helix | Temperate climes. | Coarse.
Rope, etc. |
| Jute | Corchorus capsularis | India | In India for “gunny-bags,” In England used as an addition or substitute for hemp, flax, and silk. |
| Lace bark | Lagetta lintearia | Jamaica | A bark resembling fine lace; made into collars, sleeves, purses, etc. |
| Lime bast | Tilia europaea | Europe | Affords the material of “Russia matting,” etc. |
| Common Name. | Botanical Name of the Genus and Species of the Plant by which the Fiber is produced. | Native Place, or where chiefly grown. | Qualities, Uses, etc. |
| Mallow | Malva (numerous) | Generally | The tribe comprises cotton, etc., and numerous other fiber-giving species. |
| Manila-hemp | Musa textilis | Philippine Islands. | Various textile fabrics. |
| Maroot-fiber | Sanseviera zeylanica | Madras, etc | Resembles and is used as a substitute for flax. |
| Marsh-gladden | Scirpus lacustris | British marshes, etc | A sedge.
Made into baskets, bee-hives, hassocks, etc. |
| Mulberry | Morus nigra, etc | China, etc | The Chinese make coarse cloth out of the bark. |
| Mulberry (paper) | Broussonetia papyrifera | Polynesia, etc | The source of “Tapa” cloth, made by beating out the bark by mallets, etc.; resembles both hemp and paper. |
| Namaqua bark | Brosimum namaqua | Grenada, North of South America, etc. | Resembles hemp.
Bark made into sacking, and used for beds, etc. |
| Nettle-fiber | Urtica dioica, etc | Generally | Irish variety, worked up into collars and other fancy articles. |
| New Zealand flax | Phormium tenax | New Zealand, etc | (See Flax.) |
| Neyanda-fiber | Sanseviera zeylanica | Ceylon | Resembles and is used as a substitute for flax. |
| Palm | Very numerous | Tropics | Species very numerous: all afford fiber of some kind. |
| Palmite | Juncus serratus | S. Africa | A rush.
Used for plaiting, thatching, baskets, etc. |
| Palmyra-palm | Borassus flabelliformus | Tropical Asia | Leaves made into mats, baskets, carpets, hats, umbrellas, etc. |
| Paper mulberry | Broussonetia papyrifera | Fiji, etc | (See Mulberry.) |
| Papyrus (paper) | Cyperus | Egypt, etc | A kind of sedge from which ancient Egyptian paper was made. |
| Piassaba | Attalea funifera | Brazil, etc | Coarse fiber.
Made into brooms, ropes, etc. |
| Pine | Pinus (various) | Europe, etc | Coarse fiber.
Fit for ropes, etc. |
| Pine | Thuja gigantea | Northwestern America | Bark affords a fiber resembling hemp.
Baskets, hats, mats, etc. |
| Pineapple | Bromelia ananas | Tropics | Fiber suitable for fine articles; as muslin, cambrics, etc. |
| Pita-fiber | Bromelia pita, etc | Tropics | Resembles flax, for which it is an excellent substitute. |
| Plantain | Musa paradisiaca, etc | Tropics | Various fibers for cordage, etc. |
| Rattan-cane | Calamus rotang | Tropics | When split, used for caning chairs, brooms, etc. |
| Rhea-fiber | Boehmeria nivea | China, India, etc. | Various textile fabrics; the coarse kinds afford cordage, sails, fishing-nets, etc. |
| Rice | Oryza sativa | Europe, India, etc. | Fiber affords a soft porous paper. |
| Rice-paper | Aralia papyrifera | Formosa, China. | The pith of the tree is cut cylindrically, by sharp knives, into thin sheets, affording “Rice paper,” used for artificial flowers, painting, etc. |
| Ruffia | Raphia ruffia | Madagascar | Thread is made from the leaves of the palm, and woven into Malagasy cloth, used as garments by the natives. |
| Rushes | Juncus (various) | Generally | Brooms, mats, brushes, baskets, hassocks, etc. |
| Screw-pine palm | Pandanus spiralis | Tropics | The fiber resembles hemp, and may be similarly used. |
| Sedges | Cyperus (various) | Generally | Brooms, mats, brushes, baskets, etc. |
| Silk-cotton | Bombax ceiba | South America | (See Cotton.) |
| Straw | Various, as from wheat, rye, barley, rice, etc. | Generally | Largely used for making paper, bonnet plait, etc. |
| Sugar-cane | Saccharum officinarum, etc | India, W. Indies, America, etc | Fiber may be used for making paper, etc. |
| Sunn-hemp | Crotalaria juncea | India | Fiber; an excellent substitute for flax. |
| Talipot-palm | Corypha umbraculifera | Ceylon | Leaves used as umbrellas, tent-covers, etc. |
| Teazle | Dipsacus fullonum | England, etc | The flower of the plant used to raise the nap of woolen cloth. |
| Tucum-palm | Astrocaryum vulgare | Brazil, etc | Leaves woven to make hammocks, etc. They also afford thread. |
| Willow | Salix (various) | Temperate climes | Baskets, bonnets, plait, etc. |
| Yercum-fiber | Calotropis gigantea | India | Resembles flax; the seeds are inclosed in a silky fiber, like thistle-down. |
