# Ramie
**Ramie** (苎麻, zhù má; Japanese カラムシ, karamushi; Korean 모시풀) is the bast fiber taken from the stems of *Boehmeria nivea*, a perennial plant of the nettle family long known in trade as China grass, together with the cloth woven from it, which is also sold as grass linen, grass cloth, or China linen.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) • [2](https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/BOHNI) • [3](https://www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibitions/the-story-of-ramie/) It is one of the oldest textile fibers, cultivated in China since antiquity, and it spins into crisp, lustrous yarns similar to linen.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) • [4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source plant | *Boehmeria nivea* (L.) Gaudich., family Urticaceae; a monoecious perennial up to 3 m tall[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) • [5](https://useful-plants.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?id=127907) |
| Fiber character | One of the strongest and longest natural fibers; greater tensile strength than cotton; crisp, cool, lustrous cloth[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533) • [3](https://www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibitions/the-story-of-ramie/) |
| Processing bottleneck | Fiber must be degummed to remove pectin, hemicellulose, and lignin; conventional alkali methods are costly and polluting[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533) |
| World production | About 100,000 tonnes of ramie fiber in 2018; China is the leading producer, mainly south of the Yangtze River[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) • [7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925647/) |
| Main drawbacks | Low elasticity, high crease propensity, stiffness, brittleness, and low elongation[8](https://ikprress.org/index.php/AJOCR/article/view/10284) |
| Typical uses | Summer clothing, often blended with cotton, polyester, wool, or silk; also fishing lines, nets, fire hoses, and high-quality paper such as banknotes[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) |
## The plant and the fiber
*Boehmeria nivea* is native to eastern Asia and has been cultivated in China since ancient times; it probably originated in western and central China, and cultivation spread from China to other Asian countries and, in the 18th century, to experimental plantings across tropical, subtropical, and temperate countries.[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) • [5](https://useful-plants.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?id=127907) The genus is named for the German botanist Georg Rudolf Boehmer (1723–1803).[5](https://useful-plants.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?id=127907) Two cultivar groups are distinguished cytologically: green ramie with 2n = 24 chromosomes and white ramie with 2n = 28.[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) A closely related tropical plant, *Boehmeria nivea* var. *tenacissima* (sometimes treated as the species *B. tenacissima*), is the ramie or rhea of the Malay Islands and Assam.[9](https://as-proceeding.com/index.php/icias/article/download/1597/1530/2964)
The useful fiber lies in the stem bark. Unlike cotton, which is replanted each year, ramie is a perennial that can be harvested multiple times annually with less water and fewer chemicals.[10](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780443331800000144) Ramie fiber is described as one of the strongest and longest of natural fibers, and the fabric made from it is crisp and cool, absorbs and dissipates moisture quickly, and is breathable and antibacterial.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533) It increases in strength when wet, withstands high laundering temperatures, and resists bacteria, mildew, and insect attack.[9](https://as-proceeding.com/index.php/icias/article/download/1597/1530/2964)
## Degumming: the central processing problem
In the raw bast, the cellulose fibers are stuck tightly together by gummy substances consisting of pectin, hemicellulose, and lignin, so a degumming step is required before the fiber can be spun.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533) Separating the fibers from the stem is difficult and expensive, which is a principal reason ramie has never been grown on a large scale outside China and Japan despite its outstanding qualities.[5](https://useful-plants.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?id=127907)
Degumming methods are mechanical, chemical, biological, or combined. The most common industrial route is alkali cooking, which requires two boiling processes with large amounts of sodium hydroxide and causes serious environmental pollution; current methods also suffer from long processing, high operating cost, and uncontrollable fiber quality, which is why greener enzymatic and microbial methods attract research attention.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533) • [11](https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1560443) Incomplete degumming leaves fibers adhering to one another, and insufficiently degummed fabric produces a pricking sensation in wear from hairiness, protruding cellulose fibers on the yarn surface; cellulase or pectinase treatment removes this hairiness and softens the fiber.[12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13211009/) Well-degummed, finely spun ramie feels smooth and cool, while coarse ramie feels prickly.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html)
## Properties in cloth
Ramie fabric is lightweight, shiny, and similar in appearance to linen.[13](https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-ce/products/etc-ce-report-2023-5-the-role-of-bio-based-textile-fibres-in-a-circular-and-sustainable-textiles-system/%40%40download/file/ETC-EEA%20-%20Bio-based%20Textile%20Fibres_FINAL.pdf) It can appear as luxurious as silk or as light as fine linen, and it has a greater tensile strength than cotton.[3](https://www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibitions/the-story-of-ramie/)
The same stiffness that gives ramie its crispness is also its weakness. Ramie has low elasticity and low elongation, wrinkles easily, and is brittle, which limits its use; blending with cotton and enzyme finishing are used to soften the hand.[8](https://ikprress.org/index.php/AJOCR/article/view/10284) • [1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) It is frequently combined with cotton, polyester, wool, or silk in woven and knit fabrics ranging from fine-linen-like textures to coarser canvas.[9](https://as-proceeding.com/index.php/icias/article/download/1597/1530/2964) • [4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) Beyond apparel, ramie fiber serves for ropes, strings, fishing lines and nets (durable in seawater), sewing thread, canvas, mosquito nets, fire hoses, upholstery, filter cloths, gas mantles, and carpet backing, and the processing residues and short fibers go into high-quality paper such as banknotes and cigarette paper.[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526)
## History
Ramie is among the oldest textile fibers, used since prehistoric times in China, India, and Indonesia and praised in the Sanskrit poems of Kalidasa and the *Ramayana*.[4](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526) Chinese archaeology shows deep roots: ramie rope and leaves from the Hemudu site in Zhejiang date to about 6,000 years ago, a woven ramie fabric from the Qianshayang site in Huzhou to roughly 4,700 to 5,000 years ago, and the plain gauze garment from the Mawangdui Han tomb has a collar and sleeves of exceptionally fine ramie weave at 32 to 37 warp threads per centimeter, about 2,700 years old.[14](https://summerwood.cn/textiles/ramie/) The earliest textual record appears in the sixth century BC *Shijing* poem "East Gate Pool," where the term zhu (紵) refers to ramie and the phrase "soaking the zhu" describes the degumming and bleaching step.[14](https://summerwood.cn/textiles/ramie/) A Chinese review of the crop's history divides cultivation into four periods, before the Qin and Han dynasties, from Qin-Han to Sui-Tang, the Song-Yuan period, and the Ming-Qing period, and places the crop's origin on the Yungui Plateau.[15](https://www.casb.org.cn/CN/10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.2013-2304)
**Trade westward.** Ramie fiber, also known as China grass, grass linen, or Chinese silk, was exported by China to the [Western world](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-world) from the beginning of the eighteenth century, but commercial ramie textile production in [Western Europe](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-europe) was not established until 1930.[16](https://www.rexresearch1.com/TextilesLibrary/HandbookNaturalFibresTypesKozlowski.pdf) The plant itself reached Holland in 1733, France in 1844, Germany in 1850, England in 1851, and Belgium in 1860, and was introduced to the United States from Java in 1857.[16](https://www.rexresearch1.com/TextilesLibrary/HandbookNaturalFibresTypesKozlowski.pdf) Commercial production in Brazil began in the 1930s and peaked in 1971.[16](https://www.rexresearch1.com/TextilesLibrary/HandbookNaturalFibresTypesKozlowski.pdf)
One claim about ramie's antiquity is disputed. According to the [Science History Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/science-history-institute), clothing made of ramie has been discovered in tombs from ancient Egypt, and the fabric formerly served as an essential good exchanged along the [Silk Road](https://www.edgepedia.org/silk-road).[3](https://www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibitions/the-story-of-ramie/) The Textile Research Centre in Leiden states that, contrary to some suggestions, there is no evidence that ramie was used by the ancient [Egyptians](https://www.edgepedia.org/egyptians).[17](https://www.trcleiden.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/materials/fibres/ramie)
**The 1980s ramie moment.** Ramie had a visible run in United States retail in the 1980s and 1990s, usually blended with cotton in summer garments. Because the import quotas that the United States then imposed on textiles did not apply to apparel made predominantly of ramie, importers turned to blends in which ramie predominated; in 1986 Congress removed ramie's exemption from quotas, and blends containing the fiber grew scarcer after that.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html)
## Modern production
Today ramie is predominantly cultivated in China, especially in provinces across the south of the Yangtze River Basin, with commercial growing and export historically also from Brazil and the Philippines.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925647/) • [17](https://www.trcleiden.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/materials/fibres/ramie) World fiber production was about 100,000 tonnes in 2018.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) Despite China's leading role, the planting area has decreased by at least 50 percent over the past 50 years, leaving abandoned fields and feralized populations.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925647/) In China, a national standard for degummed ramie, GB/T 20793—2015, has governed production, trade, and quality control of refined ramie for more than a decade, alongside the 2024 fiber test-method standard GB/T 5881—2024.[18](https://openurl.ebsco.com/contentitem/gcd%3A196225219?id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A196225219&sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Acrawler) • [19](https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/std/newGbInfo?hcno=4980DFF7B1CDB8027902052D4F4C8E8D)
Research continues on both fronts of the fiber's limits. Molecular breeding programs, much of the current work coming from Chinese institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, aim to improve fiber quality and yield.[1](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html) • [12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13211009/) On the processing side, the fineness of ramie fiber remains inadequate for high-quality fabric production compared with cotton, and biodegradable, environmentally friendly degumming has not yet been fully adopted, so cost and processing remain the main barriers to wider use.[12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13211009/) • [10](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780443331800000144)
## References
1. [Ramie: types, fabrics, care, science and history, Fibers of Earth (Hendrick Research)](https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/ramie/index.html)
2. [Boehmeria nivea (BOHNI), EPPO Global Database](https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/BOHNI)
3. [The Story of Ramie: From Seed to Finished Garment, Science History Institute](https://www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibitions/the-story-of-ramie/)
4. [Boehmeria nivea record, PROSEA: Plant Resources of South East Asia, Handbook 17: Fibre plants](https://prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=6526)
5. [Boehmeria nivea (ramie, rhea, China grass), Useful Plants, Naturalis Biodiversity Center](https://useful-plants.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?id=127907)
6. [Qi Tang et al. (2024). Research progress in Ramie fiber extraction: Degumming method, working mechanism, and fiber performance. Industrial Crops and Products 222.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024018533)
7. [An Integrated Study of Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), and Its Wild, Cultivated, and Feral Forms, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925647/)
8. [Sustainable Processing and Technical Textile Potential of Ramie and Its Blends: A Comprehensive Review, Asian Journal of Current Research](https://ikprress.org/index.php/AJOCR/article/view/10284)
9. [Ramie fiber properties and classification, ICIAS proceedings](https://as-proceeding.com/index.php/icias/article/download/1597/1530/2964)
10. [Mohamad Widodo et al. Ramie fiber, Chapter 8 in Sustainable Plant-Based Natural Fibres in Textiles, Elsevier](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780443331800000144)
11. [A greener ramie degumming method without alkali, OSTI](https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1560443)
12. [Improving Ramie Fiber: Current Progress and Future Directions in Molecular Breeding, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13211009/)
13. [The role of bio-based textile fibres in a circular and sustainable textiles system, ETC-CE Report 2023/5, European Environment Agency](https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-ce/products/etc-ce-report-2023-5-the-role-of-bio-based-textile-fibres-in-a-circular-and-sustainable-textiles-system/%40%40download/file/ETC-EEA%20-%20Bio-based%20Textile%20Fibres_FINAL.pdf)
14. [苎麻史略 (Ramie in History), Summerwood Textiles](https://summerwood.cn/textiles/ramie/)
15. [中国苎麻的起源、分布与栽培利用史 (Origin, Distribution of Boehmeria nivea and Its History of Cultivation and Utilization in China), Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin](https://www.casb.org.cn/CN/10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.2013-2304)
16. [Handbook of Natural Fibres, Types, Properties and Applications (ramie chapter)](https://www.rexresearch1.com/TextilesLibrary/HandbookNaturalFibresTypesKozlowski.pdf)
17. [Ramie, Textile Research Centre (TRC), Leiden](https://www.trcleiden.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/materials/fibres/ramie)
18. [GB/T 20793—2015 《苎麻精干麻》标准实施情况及修订建议, China Fiber Inspection](https://openurl.ebsco.com/contentitem/gcd%3A196225219?id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A196225219&sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Acrawler)
19. [GB/T 5881-2024, Test methods for physical and chemical properties of ramie fiber, SAMR Open Standard](https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/std/newGbInfo?hcno=4980DFF7B1CDB8027902052D4F4C8E8D)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Clothing, textiles, and domestic crafts › Dress and clothing of the world › Garments, fabrics, and clothing terminology › Named fabrics and cloth types › Fiber- and yarn-defined fabrics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license