Jute is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus Corchorus, of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis.
Jute fiber
A jute field in Bangladesh
Jute rope
Jute sticks
Bast fibre is plant fibre collected from the phloem or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the phloem and provides strength to the stem. Some of the economically important bast fibres are obtained from herbs cultivated in agriculture, as for instance flax, hemp, or ramie, but bast fibres from wild plants, as stinging nettle, and trees such as lime or linden, willow, oak, wisteria, and mulberry have also been used in the past. Bast fibres are classified as soft fibres, and are flexible. Fibres from monocotyledonous plants, called "leaf fibre", are classified as hard fibres and are stiff.
Women in southern Norway weaving with linden bast fibres
Ndimbu mask from Tanganyika, made with wood, hair and bast
Cycling suit of linen bast fiber, New York, New York, United States, 1908
Dress of unspecified bast fibre, Yuracaré, Rio Chimoré, Bolivia 1908–1909.