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Furcraea tuberosa
Also called Karata, Pita, Narrow Leaved Furcraea
Furcraea tuberosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the Caribbean, and it is naturalized in parts of South Africa. Plants have a limited use as a source of fibre.
Furcraea tuberosa is native to the Caribbean: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Windward Islands. It has also become naturalized in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, where it appears to be invasive via the distribution of bulbils rather than seed, which has not been observed.
In Haiti, Furcraea tuberosa is used for its fibres, from which hammocks and ropes can be made. The species may have been spread within Cuba in the past by Haitian slaves; it is particularly found near roads and in small towns.
Furcraea andina · Furcraea cabuya · Mauritius hemp · Cuban hemp · Furcraea niquivilensis · Furcraea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Furcraea tuberosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
