abarca/abarka/alpargata

[maher, johnpeter]

BAST, LIME etc.

1. North Americans, Aussies etc. might take LIME as the citrus. They know the
fragrant tree as LINDEN  is the usual term in USA/Canada.

2. Bast, soft inner bark, is good for confection of a lot of household objects.
It is turned into a verb in German:

<basteln> translates as 'build [model airplanes etc.]' Shops that sell
do-it-yourself supplies bear the sign ,Bastelbedarf.

3. The bastwood tree in the USA Midwest, lost the /t/ in sandhi; came out as
<basswood>.  In early summer, when the tree are putting out pollen, this is
like cotton fibers, hence also the name <cottonwood tree>.

4. Birch bark, everyone knows, was  used for canoes by N. American Indians; the
large birch in question was nearly exterminate by Europeans, who used the wood
for industrially made thread spools. [I have forgotten the British term for the
latter.]

5. Beech was much used of yore in Europe. Both have paper-like, easy to peal
bark. Early Russian writings often are on birch, the "papyrus" off the North.

6. Note bark cloth in Africa...
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Sheila Watts wrote:

[ moderator snip ]

> These were perhaps sandals made of a substance called bast, traditionally
> used for a kind of basketwork in Russia (to my knowlegde) and quitte
> possibly  also in other Slav countries. My Cahmbers dictionary says it is
> 'inner bark, esp. of lime' (also 'phloem' (?), 'fibre' and ',matting'),
> though it looks rather like woven rushes or reeds. Russian folktales
> frequently refer to peasants wearing this kind of footgear.

[ moderator snip ]