Esparto

Common card · No. 483178

Esparto, halfah grass, or esparto grass is a fibre produced from two species of perennial grasses of north Africa, Spain and Portugal. It is used for crafts, such as basketry, espadrilles and cords. Macrochloa tenacissima and Lygeum spartum are the species used to produce esparto. "Esparto" or σπάρτο in Greek may also refer to any woven products of sedge or broom, including cords and ropes. Macrochloa tenacissima produces the better and stronger esparto. It is endemic to the Mediterranean region, growing in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Another name in Spanish for the plant is "atocha", a pre-Roman word. This species grows forming a steppic landscape – esparto grasslands – which covers large parts of Spain and Algeria. Lygeum spartum has a broadly similar distribution, though also occurs further east, growing in Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Italy, southern Greece (Crete), Libya, Egypt, and Israel.

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