A Text-book of Paper-making

by C. F. Cross; E. J. Bevan

Bast of the Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera).

Class C.

FIG. 10.

ESPARTO.

Order, Gramineæ. Bast fibres of fibro-vascular bundles. Length, 1·5 mm.; diameter, 0·012 mm.; ratio, 125. Illustrated in Figs. 10, 11. In Fig. 10, the fibro-vascular {56} bundles f are seen spread throughout the interior of the leaf, but the intervals, instead of being occupied by parenchyma, with large cells and thin walls, are filled with a compact mass of fine solid fibres f ′ ; e, external epidermis; e′, internal epidermis; mag. 100. In Fig. 11, a is a section of a group of fibres; b, fibres seen longitudinally; c, ends; mag. 300.

FIG. 11.

Microscopic features.—Short, smooth, cylindrical, uniform in diameter, central canal very small, extremities rounded, truncated and bifurcated.

Section.—Minute, generally oval, sometimes polygonal; central cavity represented by a point.