List of Fiber Crops for Textile, Netting and Cordage

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Table 1. List of fiber crops which are sources of textile, netting, and cordage fibers grouped by type of fiber.

COMMON NAMES	FAMILY	SCIENTIFIC NAME
a. Surface Fibers
Cotton	Malvaceae	Gossypium spp.
- Sea-Island cotton, Egyptian cotton		Gossypium barbadense
- Upland cotton, bulak, gapas, algodon		Gossypium hirsutum
- Tree cotton		Gossypium arboreum
- Levant cotton		Gossypium herbaceum
b. Soft or Bast Fibers
1. Flax	Linaceae	Linum usitatissimum
2. Hemp, marijuana		Cannabis sativa
3. Jute	Malvaceae	Corchorus capsularis
- Jute, saluyot, tagabang		Corchorus olitorius
4. Ramie	Urticaceae	Boehmeria nivea
5. Sunn hemp	Leguminosae/Fabaceae	Crotalaria juncea
6. Kenaf	Malvaceae	Hibiscus cannabinus
7. China Jute, Indian Mallow	Malvaceae	Abutilon theophrasti
8. Roselle, Rama	Malvaceae	Hibiscus sabdariffa
9. Aramina, Cadillo, Calut-calutan	Malvaceae	Urena lobata
c. Hard or Structural Fibers
1. Abaca, Manila Hemp	Musaceae	Musa textilis
2. Agaves	Agavaceae/Asparagaceae*	Agave spp.
- Henequen or Mexican Sisal		Agave fourcroydes
- Sisal, Century plant		Agave sisalana
- Maguey, Manila maguey, Cantala		Agave cantala
3. Mauritius Hemp, False agave, green aloe, giant cabuya	Agavaceae/ Asparagaceae*	Furcraea gigantea, F. foetida; Others: Furcraea macrophylla, F. cabuya, F. hexapetales
4. New Zealand Flax, New Zealand Hemp	Hemerocallidaceae/ Xanthorrhoeaceae*	Phormeum tenax
5. Bowstring Hemp	Ruscaceae/ Asparagaceae*	Sansevieria spp., e.g. S. thyrsiflora, S. roxburghiana, S. zelanica, S. longifolia (Florida bowstring hemp)
6. Coconut	Palmae/Arecaceae	Cocos nucifera
7. Pineapple	Bromeliaceae	Ananas comosus
8. Floja	Bromeliaceae	Aechmea magdalenae
9. Caroá	Bromeliaceae	Neoglaziovia variegata

* Changes have occured in which several families have been expanded to include previously distinct families. The 2009 classification system of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG III) places the family Agavaceae, Ruscaceae, and others in an expanded Asparagaceae (Simpson 2010).

Primary source of list of fiber crops according to type of fiber: Hill (1972).

Addendum: Black fibers from the hair-like margins of the leafsheaths of sugar palm or kaong have been used in making ropes that are resistant to sea water.

REFERENCES

FRANCIS JK. 2003. Furcraea foetida (L.) Haw. Retrieved December 16, 2011 from http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Furcraea%20foetida.pdf.
HILL AF. 1972. Economic Botany: A Textbook of Useful Plants and Plant Products. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd. p. 18-51.
MERRILL ED. 1912. A Flora of Manila. Manila: Bureau of Printing. 491 p.
MOORE R, CLARK WD, VODOPICH DS. 2003. Botany. 2nd ed. International Student Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 919 p.
SIMPSON MG. 2010. Plant Systematics. 2nd ed. San Diego, CA, USA: Elsevier Inc. 740 p.

(Ben G. Bareja December 2011)

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