ESPARTO or SPANISH GRASS (Stipa tenacissima), a grass resembling the ornamental feather-grass of gardens. It is indigenous to south Spain and north Africa (where it is known as Haifa or Alfa), and is especially abundant in the sterile and rugged parts of Murcia and Valencia, and in Algeria, flourishing best in sandy, ferruginous soils, in dry, sunny situations on the sea coast. It attains a height of 3 or 4 feet. The stems are cylindrical, and clothed with short hair, and grow in clusters of from 2 to 'oft. in circumference; when young they serve as food for cattle, but after a few years acquire great toughness. The leaves vary from 6in. to 3 f t. in length, and are grey-green in colour ; on account of their tenacity of fibre and flexibility they have for centuries been em ployed for making ropes, sandals, baskets, mats and other articles. Ships' cables of esparto, being light, float on water, and have long been in use in the Spanish navy.
Esparto leaves contain 56% by weight of fibre, or about io% more than straw, and hence have come into requisition for the manufacture of paper. For this purpose they were first utilized by the French, and in 1857 were introduced into Great Britain. For paper-making the leaves should be gathered before they are quite matured ; if, however, they are obtained too young, they fur nish a paper having a semi-transparent appearance. The leaves are gathered by hand, and from 2 to 3cwt. may be collected in a day by a single labourer. They are generally obtained during the dry summer months, as at other times their adherence to the stems is so firm as often to cause the uprooting of the plants in the attempt to remove them. Esparto may be raised from seed, but cannot be harvested for twelve or fifteen years after sowing.
Another grass, Lygeum Spartum, with stiff rush-like leaves, growing in rocky soil on the high plains of the Mediterranean countries, especially Spain and Algeria, is also a source of esparto.
For the processes of the paper manufacturer esparto is used dry, and without cutting; roots and flowers and stray weeds are re moved, and the material is then boiled with caustic soda, washed and bleached.