abaca

1. A bananalike plant (Musa textilis) native to the Philippines and having broad leaves with long stalks.
2. The fibers obtained from the stalks of this plant, used to make cordage, fabric, and paper. Also called manila, Manila hemp.

[Spanish abacá, from Tagalog abaka.]

One of the strongest of the hard fibers, commercially known as Manila hemp. Abaca is obtained from the leafstalks of a member of the banana family, Musa textilis. The plant resembles the fruiting banana, but is a bit shorter in stature, bears small inedible fruits, and has leaves that stand more erect than those of the banana, and that are slightly narrower, more pointed, and 5–7 ft (1.5–2 m) long. The plant was domesticated long ago in the southern Philippines.

Abaca prefers a warm climate with year-round rainfall, high humidity, and absence of strong winds. Soils must always be moist but the plant does not tolerate waterlogging. Abaca grows best on alluvial soils in the southern Philippines and northern Borneo below 1500 ft (450 m) elevation. The plant is best propagated by rootstalk suckers. There are about 75 varieties grown in the Philippines, grouped into seven categories, each of which varies slightly in height, length, and quality and yield of fiber.

The fiber ranges 6–14 ft (1.8–4.2 m) in strand length, is lustrous, and varies from white to dull yellow. As one of the longest and strongest plant fibers, resistant to fresh and salt water, abaca is favored for marine hawsers and other high-strength ropes. Abaca is also used in sackings, mattings, strong papers, and handicraft art goods.

Abaca is affected by several diseases, of which the chief are bunchy top, mosaic, and wilt. Bunchy top is caused by a virus spread by the banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa). Mosaic is also caused by a virus spread by aphids (chiefly Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae and Aphis gossypii). Abaca wilt is caused by a soil or water-borne fungus, chiefly attacking plant roots.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: a kind of hemp obtained from the abaca plant in the Philippines
  Synonyms: Manila hemp, Manilla hemp

Meaning #2: Philippine banana tree having leafstalks that yield Manila hemp used for rope and paper etc
  Synonyms: Manila hemp, Musa textilis

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Manila hemp, also known as manilla, is a type of fiber obtained from the leaves of the abacá (Musa textilis), a relative of the banana. It is mostly used for pulping for a range of uses, including speciality papers. It was once used mainly to make Manila rope, but this is now of minor importance. Manila envelopes and Manila papers take their name from this fibre.

It is not actually hemp, but named so because hemp was long a major source of fiber, and other fibers were sometimes named after it. The name refers to the capital of the Philippines, one of the main producers of abacá.

See also

• Abacá

External links

• Abaca Fiber (Manila Hemp)

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