6617

17: Fibre plants

Gnetum gnemonoides Brongn.

GNETACEAE

Gnetum wrayi Gamble.

Indonesia: tali ganemu (Moluccas), rukiti gumi gumini (Halmahera), wali sowa (Ambon).

Peninsular Malaysia, Belitung, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, the Philippines, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.

The stems are used as ropes; young stems are split as binding material for fish-hooks. Roasted seeds are edible, but not very palatable.

A large dioecious liana. Leaves decussately opposite, petiolate, simple, elliptical, up to 20 cm x 8 cm, entire, glabrous, pinnately veined, finely striate above. Inflorescence an axillary spike up to 4 cm long, with collars containing sessile flowers; male flowers with a claw-shaped perianth and 1 stamen; female flowers with single ovule enclosed in a fleshy envelope. Seed ellipsoid, enclosed in a fleshy, pink, warty outer envelope, a woody, ribbed middle one and a thin, silky inner one. Gnetum gnemonoides occurs in lowland rain forest, up to 300 m altitude. The inner bark fibre of several other Gnetum species is used in Malesia for twisting thread, string and cordage, especially valued for fishing lines and nets, e.g. Gnetum gnemon L. and Gnetum latifolium Blume, of which, however, the edible seeds are more important. Gnetum cuspidatum Blume, Gnetum leptostachyum Blume and Gnetum macrostachyum Hook.f. are used for similar purposes in Indo-China. Gnetum fibre is strong and durable.

[47]Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950—. Foundation Flora Malesiana Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden, the Netherlands.
[49]Flora of Thailand (various editors), 1970—. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand.
[50]Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam] (various editors), 1960—. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
[66]Hanelt, P. & Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (Editors), 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops (except ornamentals). 1st English edition. 6 volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 3645 pp.

R.H.M.J. Lemmens

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2003. Gnetum gnemonoides Brongn.. In: Brink, M and Escobin, R.P. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 17: Fibre plants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea