Tapa Bark-cloth

Cloth made from the inner bark (secondary phloem) of various plants is found throughout many of the tropical regions of the world. Although the origins of its production are unknown, they have been chronicled as early as the 6th-century B.C. in China (5). The bark cloth of the Pacific, more commonly referred to by the Polynesian word "tapa", has been produced from the inner bark of various species of trees of the genera Broussonetia R. (paper-mulberry), Artocarous (breadfruit), and Ficus (fig species) (6). While examples of each of these types are well documented, the... 

Kapa or tapa cloth is made from mulberry tree bark. Kapa is specific to Hawaii, while tapa is made throughout Polynesia. The differences arise from the methods used to prepare the bark, and the uses to which it is subsequently put... 

Similar in appearance to white mulberry, and also naturalized in the United States, is the ornamental shrub, paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), also native to Asia. This mulberry is shrubby, and may form thick colonies from root sprouts. Paper mulberry occurs around homes, fencerows, and disturbed sites. The bark of the paper mulberry is the source of tapa, a fiber used by Pacific islanders to make clothing. 

---