Piassava, also piaçava (), piaçaba (), piasaba, pissaba, piassaba, and piaçá (),The piaçá form occurs mostly in Portugal and is considered less correct by some dictionaries. is a fibrous product of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

species '' Attalea funifera'' and ''

Leopoldinia piassaba ''Leopoldinia piassaba'', the Para piassava, piassava fiber palm or piassava palm, is a palm native to black water rivers in Amazonian Brazil and Venezuela, from which is extracted piassava, a high caliber and water resistant fiber. Piassaba fib ...

''. It is often used in making

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

s and for other purposes. Piassava was historically exported to Europe before the widespread use of synthetic materials such as plastic. Today, it is mostly used locally in South America.

References

Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon ''Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon'' is a two volume publication by two young USN lieutenants William Lewis Herndon (vol. 1) and Lardner A. Gibbon (vol. 2). Gibbon's dates: Aug. 13, 1820 - Jan. 10, 1910. Herndon split the main party in ...

Vol. I by Lieutenant

William Lewis Herndon Commander William Lewis Herndon (25 October 1813 – 12 September 1857) was one of the United States Navy's outstanding explorers and seamen. In 1851 he led a United States expedition to the Valley of the Amazon, and prepared a report published ...

(1853) chapter 14, p. 285 * ''

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's ...

'' (1913) Plant common names Fiber plants {{material-stub

See also

References