Cantala

Cantala agave plant

Description

A cordage fiber obtained from an agave plant, Agave cantala, native to Mexico and now cultivated in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The light-color cantala fibers are stiff, but lightweight and strong. They are used for native fabrics, twine, rope, and nets.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Agave cantala; Maguey fiber; maguey de la India; Manila-Maquey fiber; agave fiber;agave cantala(Esp.)

Physical and Chemical Properties

cross section = round

Resources and Citations

• G.Cook, Handbook of Textile Fibres:I. Natural Fibres, 5th edition, Merrow Publishing Co., Durham, England, 1984.

• Thomas Gregory, The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Reinhold Publishing, New York, 3rd ed., 1942

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 727

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Wikipedia: Agave. Accessed Oct. 30, 2004