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Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis © C. Laroque

Botanical classification

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Order:

Gentianales

Family:

Rubiaceae

Synonyms:

Gardenia augusta Merr.

Gardenia florida L.

Varneria augusta L.

Plant growing area

Gardenia jasminoides originated in Asia and grows in warm or subtropical climates.

China (Sichuan, Hubei), Japan, India, Taiwan, Vietnam.

In tropical areas it is found in lower altitudes.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China, Japan, Korea.

China:

Hubei, Sichuan.

Plant cultivation and use

Branched evergreen shrub with fragrant flowers, up to 1,50m-3m in height. It requires mildly acidic soil, good drainage and a sunny location. It blooms in spring or summer. The fruit is an orange berry which is used in traditional medicine as a febrifuge. It is also considered as insect repellent. The plant is as well grown as an ornamental and fragrant plant.

The fruits contain a dye, the crocin which is a carotenoid. They must be ripe to be used. The yellow dye was mainly used as a dye for fabrics; adding iron it is possible to modify the color. The color is very sensitive to acids, alkalis and to light.

China:

Gardenia jasminoides provides one of the oldest yellow dye used in China; the first evidences of its use date back to 2nd century BC and show that the dye was very popular in the Qin (221-207 BC.) and Han (202 BC.-220 AD.) dynasties.

It was used as a dye for imperial documents.

Japan:

Kuchinashi means "no mouth" because the seeds are not opening.

A yellow dye is quoted in the "Ebukuryo code" or "Garment code" dating from the 8th century AD. It may be Kuchinashi but also Kariyasu (Miscanthus tinctorius (Steud.) Hack.) or Kihada (Phellodendron amurense).

The dye is used in dyeing fabrics, paper and also in printing prints.

Korea:

This is the most widely used yellow dye. It has been used since at least the 7th-8th centuries.

It is used in combination with Indigofera tinctoria to get green color.
The papers dyed with gardenia are often used to make embossed papers (neunghwaji). Because of their repellent properties, these papers were used as book covers in bookbindings.

Preparation process for making paper

China:

The fruits are picked when ripe and then pressed. The dye is ready to use.

Other method: the fruits are dried after harvesting. The dye is obtained by boiling in water or in a mixture of water and alcohol, the dry fruits.

Japan:

The fruits are picked when ripe and then pressed. The dye is ready to use.

Other method: the fruits are dried after harvesting. The dye is obtained by boiling in water or in a mixture of water and alcohol, le dry fruits.

Dyeing of papers is performed in two ways: pulp dyeing (sukizome) or sheet dyeing (hitashizome by dipping or hikizome by brushing).

To dye paper by soaking, the sheets are plucked one by one between two wooden sticks by their small side. This will keep the sheet flat during soaking.

Usually the pulp is dyed in the vat before forming the sheets.

Korea:

Harvesting takes place in autumn. The fruits are dried in absence of light. They will be used the following year.

The fruits are placed in water and heated up to 50 ° C maximum in order to avoid the color to turn brown. The mordant used is aluminum which allows various shades.

The papers are dyed in three ways: dyeing of the pulp (Seonyeombeop), dyeing of the sheet by dipping, brushing and spraying (Huyeombeop ), combination of the both methods (Honyeombeop). Then the paper can be hammered.

Paper names

In Asia and particularly in China, Korea and Japan, the papers are intended for a wide range of use: Papers for calligraphy and art, Papers for ceremonies, Paper as a medium of exchange, money paper, Papers for making clothes, wall hangings and bedding, Papers for architecture, interior design, Papers for crafts of various kinds, for domestic purposes and leisure. The names assigned to the paper refers to different notions: The material used, The place of production, The method of production, Appearance, Dimensions, Use, The name of an artist or a studio etc.

Korea:

Suffix ji = paper.

In Korea papers made with paper mulberry bark are the most numerous.

Used part of the plant:

Fruit

Use for paper making:

Dye

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Calamus rattan is a rhizomatous, climbing palm, up to 20m high. Stipe or false trunk is long and thin, pinnate leaves are 60 to 80 cm long and are regularly arranged along the stem. The foliage is evergreen.

The white flowers are grouped in inflorescences. Fruits are rounded, and covered with reddish-brown scales; they exude a red resin called "dragon's blood" in traditional medicine, which has astringent properties. The fruits are edible. The sap of the plant is used for preparing a beverage.

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Rattan has been used to make paper in several parts of China, especially in the southeast (Zhejiang, Jiangxi) for almost 1000 years. Also it has been used in Sichuan, but to a lesser extent compared to the production of Southeast.

Many Dunhuang yellow manuscripts were identified as rattan paper. Papermaking with rattan fibers starts in the 3rd century in Shanji (former Zhengxian - Zhejiang) where the rattan was planted through hundreds of miles in the mountains, along the river Shanji. This paper is called Shandeng.

This is the most popular paper during the Tang dynasty (618-907); its production is no longer confined to Shanji, but is also found in the neighboring districts of the Zhejiang and Jiangxij provinces.

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

The Administrative Code specifies that the white rattan paper should be used for requisition and punishment decrees, blue paper for offering messages in the Taoist temple in Daijingong, yellow paper for imperial orders.

The paper is described as smooth and durable, of various colors. It is used for calligraphy, and making books. It has also been used for making tea bags since its firm and relatively tight texture can well preserve the flavors.

Rattan running out in Shanji, operations moved from West to East Zhejiang during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). But gradually the resource is exhausted because the rattan is not cultivated. Its death is also linked to the increased use of bamboo as a raw material in the manufacture of paper, which replaces it as well as hemp. Indeed bamboo became the first paper material in the middle of the Tang dynasty.

Paper names

China:

Suffixes zhi or chih = paper.
In China, unlike Korea and Japan, papers made with paper mulberry fibers are not prominent, the production of paper from bamboo fiber being the most important.

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

French

Linum usitatissimum L. © O.W.Thomé Flora von Deutschland 1885

Identification

Fibre type	Bast fiber
Average fibre lenght	33mm (9-70mm)
Average fibre width	20 μm (5-40μm)
Fibre ends	Pointed or sometimes blunt.
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Prominent, creases in V shape. Dislocations, cross-marking and longitudinal striations.
Associated cells	Often present: Short pitted fibres, vessels.
Special features	Epidermis with stomata Longitudinal cut : nodes extending across the width Transversal cut: thick cell, small lumen. Hemp and flax fibres are very similar, can be differentiated by the associated cells.
Herzberg staining	Peach/Red.
Graff 'C' staining	Peach/Red.

Botanical classification

Linum usitatissimum L.

Order:

Malpighiales

Family:

Linaceae

Synonyms:

Linum angustifolium Huds.

Linum humile Mill.

Plant growing area

The origin of flax is uncertain but possibly the Mediterranean region and/or parts of West Asia and West Europewhere it is widely cultivated. It is cultivated throughout China except Hainan and Taiwan.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China, Korea, Japan.

Plant cultivation and use

Flax is an annual plant from 30 to 120cm in height. It requires rich and loose soil and a temperate climate is most favorable to it. In India flax is cultivated to 1900 m altitude. Its growth cycle is short, one hundred days. Flowering takes place in mid-June.

Linum usitatissimum was domesticated in the 8th millennium BC. in Syria or Iran. It was widely used in ancient Egypt as well as a textile fiber and as in diet. The use of linen was later adopted in countries around the Mediterranean, then in Northern and Western Europe (5th century BC.) and would have moved Eastward where its use would have begun in India around the 3rd century BC.

It is cultivated both for its use in textiles and for its seeds in the production of oil and bread. The seed-cakes are used as fodder.

For papermaking, fibers are obtained from either textiles, known as rag, or from remnant hemp fibres called “textile flax tow” after the textile fibers have been recovered, either from the whole plant (usually from seed oil flax).

Bast fibers for textile production are separated from the stem after retting, beating, scutching and drying.

Retting allows the separation of the fibrous parts of the plant by decomposition of the pectose that binds them, thanks to the action of bacterias. It is performed either in water or on fields.
It takes place after pulling the plants, collecting them in bales, and ginning them with a comb.
After retting the fibers are dried and the dry tow is ground to remove the remaining particles of bark.
Scutching is to rid the fibers from the woody part of the plant (boon) and separate the long strands from the tow. The work ends with combing. The fibers can then be carded, spun and then woven.

China:

Flax is one of the oldest fibers used in China in the manufacture of paper. It grew throughout China, especially in North and West areas, as ramie, hemp, jute.

All these plants are called "ma" in ancient Chinese documents.

Japan:

Used in Japan for 150 years when its cultivation started. It is mainly grown for its oil.

Paper names

Korea:

Suffix ji = paper.

In Korea papers made with paper mulberry bark are the most numerous.

Used part of the plant:

Stem

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

French

Botanical classification

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Order:

Gentianales

Family:

Rubiaceae

Synonyms:

Gardenia augusta Merr.

Gardenia florida L.

Varneria augusta L.

Plant growing area

Gardenia jasminoides originated in Asia and grows in warm or subtropical climates.

China (Sichuan, Hubei), Japan, India, Taiwan, Vietnam.

In tropical areas it is found in lower altitudes.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China, Japan, Korea.

China:

Hubei, Sichuan.

Plant cultivation and use

China:

It was used as a dye for imperial documents.

Japan:

Kuchinashi means "no mouth" because the seeds are not opening.

The dye is used in dyeing fabrics, paper and also in printing prints.

Korea:

This is the most widely used yellow dye. It has been used since at least the 7th-8th centuries.

Preparation process for making paper

China:

The fruits are picked when ripe and then pressed. The dye is ready to use.

Other method: the fruits are dried after harvesting. The dye is obtained by boiling in water or in a mixture of water and alcohol, the dry fruits.

Japan:

The fruits are picked when ripe and then pressed. The dye is ready to use.

Other method: the fruits are dried after harvesting. The dye is obtained by boiling in water or in a mixture of water and alcohol, le dry fruits.

Dyeing of papers is performed in two ways: pulp dyeing (sukizome) or sheet dyeing (hitashizome by dipping or hikizome by brushing).

To dye paper by soaking, the sheets are plucked one by one between two wooden sticks by their small side. This will keep the sheet flat during soaking.

Usually the pulp is dyed in the vat before forming the sheets.

Korea:

Harvesting takes place in autumn. The fruits are dried in absence of light. They will be used the following year.

The fruits are placed in water and heated up to 50 ° C maximum in order to avoid the color to turn brown. The mordant used is aluminum which allows various shades.

Paper names

Korea:

Suffix ji = paper.

In Korea papers made with paper mulberry bark are the most numerous.

Used part of the plant:

Fruit

Use for paper making:

Dye

Prunus mume (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc. © Flora of China

Prunus mume (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc. © Plantillustrations

Botanical classification

Prunus mume (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc.

Order:

Rosales

Family:

Rosaceae

Synonyms:

Armeniaca mume var. mume

Plant growing area

China (Native to Sichuan and Yunnan; cultivated throughout most of China), Japan, Korea, North Laos, Taiwan, North Vietnam. Commonly cultivated in these countries.

Grows on forested slopes, on stream sides, along trails, at an altitude from 1700 to 3100 m.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China, Japan, Korea.

Plant cultivation and use

Prunus mume is a deciduous tree, 4 to 6 meters high. It is a rustic hard pit fruit tree considered as intermediate between plum and apricot. Flowering occurs in early spring, the flowers are white or pink and very fragrant. It prefers hot and humid climate and a sunny exposure. It has a life span of several centuries.

Its cultivation has spread for ornamental purposes throughout the Far East, where it is associated to art and literature. There are about 300 ornamental cultivars. Flowering of Prunus mume is celebrated throughout the Far East.

The fruits are eaten in all kinds of shape in China, Japan and Korea: sauces, syrups, liquors, vinegar, the most common being the "salted plums" which have antiseptic and restorative properties. They also have medicinal properties: the use of mei fruit is mentioned in the Shennong bencao jing or Classic of the Materia Medica of the Heavenly plowman, compilation of pharmacopoeia texts dating from the beginning of our era. They are effective for the treatment of cough, diarrhea, and for the removal of intestinal parasites.

A pink, brown-violet dye, can be obtained from the fruit. The color varies according to the type of mordant: pale pink with alum, purple brown with iron salts.

China:

The tree and its flower are responsible for many symbols in the Confucianism: values of virtue and perseverance but also transience of life because of a beautiful but ephemeral flowering. In the literature, poetry and the arts mei is the symbol of winter and the arrival of spring and therefore perseverance and hope.
It is grown in orchards in the Yangtze valley or potted as bonsais.

Japan:

Buddhism introduced to Japan in the 6th-7th centuries, brought with it Prunus mume.
Blooms are subject in Japan to hanami which means looking at flowers. Ume were the most popular for hanami during the Nara period (710-794), but they will be overtaken by the cherrytrees since the Heian period (794-1185).

The dye is used for kesa, dress of Buddhist monks and nuns.

Korea:

In Korea, the plum blossom is a symbol for spring. It is a popular flower motif for embroidery.

Preparation process for making paper

Japan:

Fruit juice added with lime water or rice vinegar is used.

Dyeing of paper is performed in two ways: pulp dyeing (sukizome) or sheet dyeing (hitashizome by dipping or hikizome by brushing).
To dye paper by soaking, the sheets are plucked one by one between two wooden sticks by their small side. This will keep the sheet flat during soaking.

Korea:

Paper names

Korea:

Suffix ji = paper.
In Korea papers made with paper mulberry bark are the most numerous.

Used part of the plant:

Fruit

Use for paper making:

Dye

Language:

English

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

Paper names

China:

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

English

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

Paper names

China:

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

English

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

Paper names

China:

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

English

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

Paper names

China:

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Language:

French

Identification

Fibre type
Average fibre lenght	12-40μm
Average fibre width
Fibre ends
Striations, cross-markings, flexion creases	Fine diagonal striations.
Associated cells	Parenchymal cells of various shapes.
Special features	The fiber has a uniform thickness. The fibers are short compared to bast fibers.
Herzberg staining
Graff 'C' staining

Botanical classification

Calamus rotang L.

Order:

Arecales

Family:

Arecaceae

Synonyms:

Rotang linnaei (L.) Baill.

Rotanga calamus (L.) Crantz

Plant growing area

Native to tropical Asia (Southeast Asia) where it grows everywhere.

China (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi).

Grows in rain forests.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China.

Plant cultivation and use

Rotang palm prefers drained soils, adapts to exposure from shade to sun, but is very sensitive to low temperatures.

The stem provides rattan, flexible material widely used throughout Southeast Asia for the manufacture of furniture and basketry. The trunk fibers are also used for the manufacture of mats, ropes.

China:

Various official documents relate in the early 8th century that the paper is sent as a tribute.

Paper names

China:

Used part of the plant:

Leaf

Use for paper making:

Fiber

Primary tabs

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Calamus rotang L.

Linum usitatissimum L.

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Prunus mume (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

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Primary tabs

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Calamus rotang L.

Linum usitatissimum L.

Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis

Prunus mume (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

Calamus rotang L.

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