piassava

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pi·as·sa·va

 (pē′ə-sä′və) also pi·as·sa·ba (-sä′bə)
n.
1. Either of two South American palm trees, Attalea funifera or Leopoldinia piassaba, from which a strong coarse fiber is obtained.
2. The fiber of either of these plants, formerly widely used for making ropes, brushes, and brooms.

[Portuguese, from Tupí pïa'sawa.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

piassava

(ˌpiːəˈsɑːvə) or

piassaba

n
1. (Plants) either of two South American palm trees, Attalea funifera or Leopoldinia piassaba
2. (Textiles) the coarse fibre obtained from either of these trees, used to make brushes and rope
[C19: via Portuguese from Tupi piaçaba]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pi•as•sa•va

(ˌpi əˈsɑ və)

also pi•as•sa•ba

(-ˈsɑ və, -bə)

n., pl. -vas also -bas.
1. a coarse, woody fiber obtained from either of two palms, Leopoldina piassaba or Attalea funifera, of South America: used in making brooms, mats, etc.
2. either of these trees.
[1825–35; < Portuguese < Tupi piaçaba]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
Jose, "Thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of composites developed from glycerol and dicarboxylic acids reinforced with piassava fiber," Macromolecular Symposia, vol.
(13-15) Fiber Cellulose Hemi Lignin Waxes (wt%) cellulose (wt%) (wt%) (wt%) Abaca 56-63 20-25 7-9 3 Alfa 45.4 38.5 14.9 2 Bagasse 55.2 16.8 25.3 -- Bamboo 26-43 30 21-31 -- Banana 63-64 19 5 -- Coir 32-46 0.15-0.25 40-45 -- Cotton 85-90 5.7 -- 0.6 Caraua 73.6 9.9 7.5 -- Flax 71 18.6-20.6 2.2 1.5 Hemp 68 15 10 0.8 Henequen 60 28 8 0.5 Isora 74 -- 23 1.09 Jute 61-71 14-20 12-13 0.5 Kenaf 72 20.3 9 -- Kudzu 33 11.6 14 -- Nettle 86 10 -- 4 Piassava 28.6 25.8 45 - Ramie 68.6-76.2 13-16 0.6-0.7 0.3 Sisal 65 12 9.9 2 Sponge gourd 63 19.4 11.2 3 Straw (wheat) 38-45 15-31 12-20 -- Sun hemp 41-48 8.3-13 22.7 -- Table 2: Testing results from the laboratory S.
The traditional traps used for harvesting the species--known locally as 'matapis'--are hand-made from strips of stems of spiny (Astrocaryum spp.) or piassava (Raphia vinifer) palms (Figure 1).
She said the country is rich in iron ore, diamonds, gold, silver, bauxite, timber, piassava - a fibrous plant used to make brooms - "and recently discovered crude oil."
gasipaes and, to a lesser extent, Mauritia flexuosa from Peru (Rios, 2001; SUNAT, 2006); piassava fibers of Attalea funifera from Brazil (Voeks, 1988), and those of Leopoldinia piassaba from Colombia and Brazil (Centro de Comercio Internacional, 1969; Crizon, 2001; Linares et al., 2008), both of which were an important export product in the 19th century (Wallace, 1853); thatch tiles woven with leaves of Geonoma deversa from Bolivia (L.
(2005) found that the flexural strength of piassava fiber-reinforced orthophtalic polyester composite (40% [wt/wt] fiber loading) was independent of a molding pressure below 9.2 MPa.
Leopoldinia piassaba (piassava in Brazil, chiquichiqui in Colombia and Venezuela, fibra in Colombia) is distributed in the upper Rio Negro region of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela (Figure 1), especially on poor and sandy soils associated with black water rivers where it forms extensive single-species patches covering several hectares.
Within cabruca, polyculture is trickier because there's less light to work with, but it should be feasible to include various other shade tolerant crops, such as the fruit- and fiber-producing palms, acai (Euterpe oleracea) and piassava (Attalea funifera).
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