Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ), ''Boehmeria nivea'', is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. It is an

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

growing to tall;Ramie: Old Fiber - New ImageArchived copy
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

(September 17, 2002). the

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are heart-shaped, long and broad, and white on the underside with dense, small hairs—this gives it a silvery appearance; unlike stinging nettles, the hairs do not sting. The true ramie or China grass is also called Chinese plant or white ramie. A second type, known as green ramie or rhea, is believed to have originated in the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. It has smaller leaves which are green on the underside, and it appears to be better suited to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

conditions. The word "ramie" is derived from the Malay word .

Cultivation

Ramie is one of the oldest

fiber crop Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. Fiber crops are characterized by having a large concentration of cellulose, which is what gives them their Strength of materials, s ...

s, having been used for at least 6,000 years, and is principally used for fabric production. It is a bast fiber, which comes from the inner bark (

phloem Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is ...

) of the vegetative stalks and not the woody stem itself or the outer bark. Ramie is normally harvested two to three times a year, but under good growing conditions can be harvested up to six times per year. Unlike other bast crops, ramie requires chemical processing to de-gum the fiber. When the plant begins flowering, or just before, it signals both a decline in growth and the plant being at its maximum fibre content, and is harvested. Stems are harvested by cutting just above the lateral roots or by bending the stem. This enables the core to be broken and the

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

can be stripped from the plant ''in situ''. After harvesting, stems are decorticated while the plants are fresh. If this is not done while the plants are still fresh, the plants dry out and the bark will be difficult to remove. The bark ribbon is then dried as quickly as possible, preventing

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

and

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

from attacking it. The dry weight of harvested stem from crops ranges from 3.4 to 4.5 t/ha/year. A 4.5-ton crop yields 1,600 kg/ha/year of dry undegummed fiber. The weight loss during degumming can be up to 25%, giving a yield of degummed fiber of about 1,200 kg/ha/year. The fiber extraction occurs in three stages. First, the cortex (bark) is removed; this can be done manually or by machine. This process is called decortication. Second, the cortex is scraped to remove most of the outer bark, the

parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...

in the bast layer and some of the gums and pectins. Third, the residual cortex material is washed, dried, and degummed to extract the spinnable

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

History

Preparing of Ramie 35 Fiber for weaving PP01

Ramie has been grown in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for many centuries, and farmers in ancient China are known to have used the fiber to weave clothing. In China, it is called zhù má (苎麻). It may have been used in cloth for wrapping mummies in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Though ramie and

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

are difficult to distinguish from one another in ancient cloth, ramie's resistance to bacteria and mildew would make it appropriate for mummy wrapping. Taiwan's aboriginal people have used ramie for millennia in fabric production and ramie is still used to create traditional garb. Ramie was used to produce an open-weave fabric called mechera, used for shirts and dressing gowns suitable for warm climates. The French painter Raoul Dufy designed in the early 20th century patterns for prints on mechera used by the French shirtmaker Charvet.

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

began production in the late 1930s with production peaking in 1971. Since then, production has steadily declined as a result of competition from alternative crops, such as

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s, and from synthetic fibers.

Properties

Ramie is one of the strongest natural fibers. It exhibits even greater strength when wet. Ramie fiber is known especially for its ability to hold shape, reduce wrinkling, and introduce a

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

y lustre to the fabric appearance. It is not as durable as other fibers, so is usually used as a blend with other fibers such as

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

. It is similar to

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

in absorbency, density, and microscopic appearance. It does not dye as well as cotton. Because of its high molecular crystallinity, ramie is stiff and brittle and will break if folded repeatedly in the same place; it lacks resiliency and is low in elasticity and elongation potential.Kadolph SJ, Langford AL. Textiles (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2001.

Uses

Despite its strength, ramie has had limited acceptance for

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

use. The fiber's extraction and cleaning are expensive, chiefly because of the several steps—involving scraping, pounding, heating, washing, or exposure to chemicals. Some or all are needed to separate the raw fiber from the adhesive gums or resins. Spinning the fiber is difficult due to its brittle quality and low elasticity; and weaving is complicated by the hairy surface of the yarn, resulting from lack of cohesion between the fibers. Greater utilization of ramie may depend upon development of improved processing methods and the need to find plastic alternatives. Ramie is used to make such products as industrial sewing thread, packing materials, fishing nets, and filter cloths. It is also made into fabrics for household furnishings (

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

) and clothing, frequently in blends with other textile fibers (for instance when used in a mixture with

, shrinkage is reported to be greatly reduced when compared with pure wool). Shorter fibers and waste are used in paper manufacture. Ramie ribbon is used in fine

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

as a substitute for traditional linen tape. For the 2010 Prius,

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

began using plant-derived plastics made from the

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

in wood or grass instead of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

. One of the two principal crops used is ramie. Ramie is also used as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

eastern Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan ...

. In Vietnam, ramie leaves are a main ingredient in making a Vietnamese glutinous rice cake called bánh gai (thorn leaf cake) or bánh gai Tứ Trụ in Thanh Hóa province. The leaves give the cake its distinct color, flavor and fragrance. In the Chinese Hakka community, ramie leaves are a main ingredient in making pancake-like dumplings with glutinous rice powder, sugar and water. These glutinous rice powder dumplings are similar to another Southeast Asian delicacy otherwise known as Kuih. The ramie leaves are picked, cleaned and ground in mortar, mixed into a dough of glutinous rice powder, water and sugar, kneaded thoroughly and placed on palm-sized square- or circular-cut banana leaves and steamed. The ramie leaves give the dumplings a dark green colour and unique aroma. Ramie is also occasionally used in the construction of high performance rowing oar shafts. Mahe Drysdale used sculling oars made with ramie during the 2016 Rio Olympics where he won Gold in the Men's 1X Scull. Ramie is often used to produce high-quality summer kimono in Japan. In Japanese, the plant is called either ramie or choma (苧麻), while in the southern Okinawan islands it is known as bu. Well-known examples of ramie textiles include Yaeyama Jofu and Miyako Jofu, both prized for their fine quality and craftsmanship.https://www.motoji.co.jp/blogs/en-articles/yaeyama-joufu-waori-monogatari?srsltid=AfmBOooG2x6VtBsNYunsqSR9s4X7p5Q-nvx80Ylieot95z3cZooVGF75

Producers

China is the main producer of ramie. Others include Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Brazil. Only a small percentage of the ramie produced is available on the international market. Japan, Germany, France and the UK are the main importers; the remaining supply is used domestically.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q750467 Boehmeria Crops originating from Asia Fiber plants Flora of temperate Asia Flora of tropical Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus