URTICA IIETEROPHYLLA. itoxb.
Urtica palmata, Fond.. Girardinia Leschenault iana, Wall.
Iluru, . . . . ASSAM. All, HIND.
An, Jan, Kal, . of BRAS. llichua (scorpion), „ Henpa, &rpa, . . Kul . . . of JRZI.1.31. Bet ya, . . . BUR.V. Ani aborinigam, MALEAL.
Kingi . . . of CuEms. Ein, Sanoli, . of Ravi.
Theng mab, . . . Cm.v. Karla, llhabar, of surtr..r.
Keilgherry nettle, . ENG.
This ia a fine tall nettle, with immense leaves and a vigorous sting. It is the most widely diffused of the large Indian nettles, being found in Burma, in Assain, in South Konkan, along the Malabar coast, in Mysore, the Neilgherries, ill the valleys of the Himalayas, along the foot of the hills to the Dehra Doon, tho northern valleys of the Himalaya, and in many places of the Panjab Himalaya as between Rainpur and Sungnam, 2500 to 7000 feet, where stems aro often em ployed for making twine and ropes by the dry process ; but in the N.W. Himalaya these are not prized, na they perish quickly from wet. It is an annual, with erect angular stems, marked with small white specks, in which are inserted stiff, most acute bristles, which produce intense pain. The bar k abounds in fine white, glossy, silk - like fibres, but these probably differ with the locality in which the plant is grown. To the Exhibition of 1851, specimens were sent by Dr. Wight, prepared in a rude way, by boiling, by the Todawar of the Neilgherry mountains. It was a beautifully fine and soft flax-like fibre, which the Todawar race use as a thread material, a,nd, if well prepared, fitted to compete with flax for the manufacture of very fine textile fabrics.
Mr. Dickson, by passing•it through his machine and liquid, rendered it like a beautiful, soft, silky kind of flax, of which the tow would be useful for mixing with wool, as has been done with the China grass, and the fibre used for the finest purposes. Major Hannay says the Assamese use the fibre extensively in the manufacture of cloth. The Chinese prize it for the softness of its fibre, as well as for its strength. The plant grows wild all over the Neilgherries, it is well known to the natives, and its cultivation might be readily extended. The value put on the fibre was 170 to 180 the ton. As the seeds are quick of vegetation, the cultivation of this plant can be carried to any extent, and the supply might be largely increased, as the plant is abundant and widely distributed over the Indian Peninsula. The fibre from the bark of old wood was steeped in cold water for about six days. The baxk of young wood was steeped in hot water for about 24 hours, when the fibre was found to separate readily from the pulp.—Great Exhib. of 1851 ; Royle's Fib. Plants, p. 67; Stewart, P. Pl.; Cleghorn, P. Rep. p. 68 ; Air. .111‘lvor in .31. E. J. Reports.