Fibres
Paper, ropes, cords and textiles are all made from plant fibres. These are elongated cells with very thick cell walls found in plant stems, leaves, bark and seeds.
Linen table napkins made from flax (Photo: Linenfabrics.co.uk)
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is one of the most important plant fibres. The cells from the stems are fine and white and are used to make linen - a soft, lustrous and very water-absorbent textile present in towels and fabrics.
In contrast the fibres from jute (Corchorus species) stems are coarse and brown and used to make sackcloth, hessian and twine.
Cotton (Gossypium species)
The most important textile worldwide is cotton (Gossypium species). This is produced from the many fine hairs that grow on the seed surface. Each cotton boll contains over 300 miles of hairs! These are twisted into strong threads, spun from billions of hairs.
Fibre cells in sisal (Agave sisalana) and Yucca (Yucca elata) come from the leaves. These are used to make string and rope.
Paper is made from a range of fibre sources, including Papyrus stems and the bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). Nowadays, however, paper is mainly made from wood pulp.