Fibre dimensions of various wood, bamboo and grass species and miscellaneous fibrous materials of Bangladesh have been studied from time to time in the Pulp and Paper Division of the Forest Research Institute, Chittagong. The data from these studies have been compiled in this review and the species have been graded as very good, good or poor for paper making on the basis of Runkel ratio. Two other properties, viz., flexibility co-efficient and relative fibre length have also been determined, since these properties are reported to be correlated to the tensile strength and tearing resistance of paper. Out of all the species studied, 33 wood, 3 bamboo, 2 grass & 4 miscellaneous species have been found promising for paper making.

Gluability of a veneer species is a function of the strength and durability of plywood. Champa has been one ofthe chosen decorative species for veneer. An investigation was made to find the gluability of Champa compared to that of Civit, a species having excellent gluability properties. Champa veneers peeled to 1.0 mm thickness and dried to 8% target moisture content were bonded with liquid UF glue catalysed with 2% hardener and extended with 20% wheat flour to make 3-ply plywood panels. The dry shear load and wet shear load of Champa plywood compared favourably with those of Civit plywood and the values were well above the minimum requirements. Therefore, plywood made from Champa veneer bonded with U F glue may be recommended for use as Warm Water Resistant Grade.

Vegetative and floral morphologies of the monotypic genus Melocalamus compactifloras (Kurz) Benth. have been described. Detailed morphology of the fruit and seed has also been investigated. Its relationship with Melocatma Trin. and Dinochloa Buse has been established as proposed by Dransfield ( 1981 ).