Cyperus papyrus papyrus sedge paper reed sedge family (Cyperaceae) ancient papermaking native to Africa and SW Asia, e.g., Nile, Niger, & Euphrates rivers thought to be the bulrush from story of infant Moses PoD:

Cyperus papyrus papyrus sedge paper reed sedge family (Cyperaceae) Thor Heyerdahl’s first “Ra” reed boat, which didn’t quite cross the Atlantic Ocean papyrus now found in Americas and around Mediterranean (e.g., Sicily image above from 1901 "Sicily - John L. Stoddard's Lectures”) now rare in Nile Delta of Egypt PoD:

Plants in material culture wood and fibers

Wood wood = secondary xylem of “dicots” [eudicots] and conifers –vascular cambium = “a lateral meristem capable of dividing to produce additional xylem toward the inside of the stem and phloem toward the outside” –growth rings from spring (fast) and summer (slow) growth stem of monocots with diffuse vascular bundles –palms, bamboo – grow vertically, no secondary radial growth banana “trees” – overlapping leaf bases form a false stem

Wood wood = secondary xylem of eudicots Figures from Simpson and Conner- Ogorzaly 1986 Economic Botany – Plants in Our World (1 st edition).

Wood Figures from Simpson and Conner-Ogorzaly 1986 Economic Botany – Plants in Our World (1 st edition). Arrangement of vascular bundles in eudicot and monocot stems. False stem of banana.

Wood = secondary xylem of “dicots” [eudicots] and conifers –vascular cambium = “a lateral meristem capable of dividing to produce additional xylem toward the inside of the stem and phloem toward the outside” –growth rings from spring (fast) and summer (slow) growth stem of monocots with diffuse vascular bundles –palms, bamboo – grow vertically, no secondary radial growth –banana “trees” – overlapping leaf bases form a false stem Figures from Simpson and Conner-Ogorzaly 1986 Economic Botany – Plants in Our World (1 st edition).

Fiber plant, animal, synthetic, semi-synthetic fibers –plant fiber of cellulose – heat OK, termites, mildew –animal fiber of protein – heat makes brittle, dyes easily, but moths –cellulose-based semi-synthetics: rayon, cellophane, acetate –petroleum-based synthetics: polyester, acrylic

Plant-based textile fibers seed and fruit fibers –cotton, coir hard, or leaf, fibers from monocot leaves –sisal, henequen, abaca, pineapple soft, or bast, fibers from eudicot stems –hemp, jute, ramie, linen Adapted from Simpson and Conner-Ogorzaly 1986 Economic Botany – Plants in Our World (1 st edition).

Fiber classification by plant part seed –cotton Gossypium spp. spinning only in “fibers that have structural properties that cause individual strands to clasp one another when twisted.” –milkweed and kapok fibers too slippery to be spun fruit: coconut fiber (coir) “hard” leaf fibers from monocots decorticating (crushing and scraping to remove non-fibrous material) –sisal and henequen Agave sisalana and A. fourcroydes –manila hemp, abaca Musa textilis “soft” bast fibers from phloem tissues of dicots retting (bacterial rotting to separate fibers), skutching (beating and scraping to remove woody matter), hackling (drawing across comb-like pins). –linen Linum usitatissimum –hemp Cannabis sativa –ramie Boehmeria nivea

Agave leaf fibers Henequen from Agave fourcroydes Sisal or sisal hemp from Agave sisalana Sisal was primary source of baling twine before synthetics Both native to Mexico & Central America Sisal now grown in Brasil and various parts of Africa this  Agave has a different purpose, what is it? (images from Wikipedia) “Hard” leaf fibers from monocots

Agave sisalana cultivated in Tanzania Image source: “Hard” leaf fibers from monocots

Agave sisalana cultivated in Kenya Image source: / Kenneth M. Gale,, Bugwood.org “Hard” leaf fibers from monocots

Musa textilis - Abacá Hard fiber from leaf bases “Manila hemp” because of origin in Philippines Formerly used in rope, now used in teabags, some rope, and composites in auto industry “Hard” leaf fibers from monocots

Flax / linen bast fibers Linum usitatissimum “Soft” bast fibers from eudicots

processing linen retting (bacterial rotting to separate fibers), skutching (beating and scraping to remove woody matter), hackling (drawing across comb-like pins). “Soft” bast fibers from eudicots

“Paper” currency  Currency paper is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout the paper. Prior to World War I the fibers were made of silk.

Paper mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera Moraceae