It has also many uses in ethnomedicine ( Vaughan, 2011 Rooney, 2013). Papyrus is planted worldwide as an ornamental, and the stems and inflorescences are used in floral arrangements. The pith and the rhizomes are edible: the pith can be eaten raw or cooked, or it can be chewed like sugarcane. The ashes provide vegetable salt in Burundi. The pith is dried and used for stuffing mattresses and cushions (Gabon), processed with waste paper and water to make sanitary napkins (Great Lakes region), and to manufacture cardboard and wallboard (Uganda and Rwanda). It is used to make furniture, mats, baskets and other handcrafts, and for buildings, roofing, brick-making, and boat construction ( Rooney, 2013 Jones et al., 2018). Papyrus is still used on a subsistence basis by people living in the vicinity of papyrus wetlands in Africa. The fibrous parts of the culms were used for ropes, nets, sandals etc. Papyrus is cited in the Bible ("bulrush" in the King James Version) as the material used to make Moses' cradle (Exodus 2-3: S he took for him an ark of bulrushes) and to make boats (Isaiah 18-2: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters) (The Holy Bible, KJV21). It was the only widespread recording medium until the 8 th century in Europe ( Vaughan, 2011 Rooney, 2013). Paper made from dried, pressed and woven strips of culm pith had been used since 3500 BCE to make paper by ancient civilizations in Egypt and the Mediterranean basin. Papyrus is not primarily used as fodder but it can be browsed or cut for livestock feeding. They contain 12-40 cylindrical, sessile spikelets spirally arranged along the spike ( Popay, 2014 Vaughan, 2011). The spikes are 2-3 cm long x 0.6-1.2 cm wide. It contains 50-360 green smooth branches, 15-35 cm in length, that bear spikes clustered in umbels at their apex. The inflorescence looks like an umbel, hemispherical when young and becoming sub-globose with age. The leaves are alternate, reduced, sheathing, reddish-blackish brown in colour when young. They are photosynthetic and contain a solid pith, white-light brown. Papyrus culms are erect and roundly trigonous, smooth, 15-45 (-60) mm in diameter. The roots are tough and able to extend 1 m or more. MorphologyĬyperus papyrus is a stout, aquatic perennial rhizomatous sedge that grows to 3-5 m in height. Papyrus is now widely used as an ornemental ( Vaughan, 2011). The dry plant can be burned for fire production.
The pith is edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. It has been assessed as fodder for feeding livestock. Papyrus ( Cyperus papyrus L.) is an aquatic sedge mostly known for its use as paper by the ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman civilizations.
0 kommentar(er)
