Abacá ( /ɑːbəˈkɑː/ ah-bə-KAH; from Spanish "abacá" [aβaˈka] for Musa textilis), Musa textilis, is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant is of great economic importance, being harvested for its fibre, once generally called Manila hemp, extracted from the trunk or pseudostem. On average, the plant grows about 12 feet (4 meters) tall. The fiber was originally ...
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Abacá ( /ɑːbəˈkɑː/ ah-bə-KAH; from Spanish "abacá" [aβaˈka] for Musa textilis), Musa textilis, is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant is of great economic importance, being harvested for its fibre, once generally called Manila hemp, extracted from the trunk or pseudostem. On average, the plant grows about 12 feet (4 meters) tall. The fiber was originally used for making twines and ropes; now most abacá is pulped and used in a variety of specialized paper products including tea bags, filter paper and banknotes. It is classified as a hard fiber, along with coir, henequin and sisal.
Abacá was first cultivated on a large scale in Sumatra in 1925 under the Dutch, who had observed its cultivation in the Philippines for cordage since the 19th century, followed up by plantings in Central America in 1929 sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Commercial planting began in 1930 in British North...
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