{"id":1873,"date":"2014-12-14T09:52:06","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T09:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/crg\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2014-12-14T09:52:06","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T09:52:06","slug":"2014-adventbotany-day-14-string","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2014\/12\/14\/2014-adventbotany-day-14-string\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 AdventBotany – day 14 – String"},"content":{"rendered":"

By @DrMGoesWild<\/a><\/p>\n

#AdventBotany Day 14<\/strong> \u2013 Yesterday we wrapped our Advent Botany Christmas parcels in botanical paper, today we tie them up with string! \u00a0Modern Christmas string is most likely made from nylon, rayon, polyester or other synthetics. But how nice to deliver your Christmas parcels tied up with botanical string? String can be fashioned from the plant fibres of a wide range of species including:<\/p>\n

Coir Coconut fibre (<\/em>Cocos nucifera \u2013 <\/em>Arecaceae)
\nCotton (Gossypium \u2013 Malvaceae)<\/em>
\nFlax (Linum usitatissimum \u2013 Linaceae)<\/em>
\nHemp (Cannabis sativa \u2013 Cannabaceae)<\/em>
\nJute (Corchorus sp. \u2013 Sparmanniaceae)<\/em>
\nNettles (Urtica dioica \u2013 Urticaceae)<\/em>
\nRaffia (Raphia\u00a0taedigera<\/i> \u2013 Arecaceae) <\/em>
\nSisal (<\/em>Agave sisalana \u2013 Asparagaceae)<\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine the joy, while researching #AdventBotany, Dr M was delighted to discover a secret stash of botanical strings and ropes fashioned from Cannabis sativa and others in the economic botany cupboard at the University or Reading, some images below:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"string<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
\"640px-La_Roche_Jagu_chanvre_1\"<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
\"string\"<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

If you fancy trying your hand at fashioning some hand-crafted string this Christmas, check out this video on making hemp string.<\/strong><\/p>\n