Boehmeria

views updated

Boehmeria (family Urticaceae) A genus of trees and shrubs that includes B. nivea (China grass or rhea) which is cultivated in China for the long, tough, silky fibre of the inner bark, and in the tropics (as the variety tenacissima) for ramie fibre. There are about 50 species, occurring in the tropics and northern subtropics.