Definition Esparto
ESPARTO
Stipa tenacissima is the scientific name of esparto or atocha, plant the grass family (Poaceae) characteristic of steppe environments. The esparto originates, according to experts, the Irano-Turanian region, ie, deserts located between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea would reach the western end of the Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula in the Tertiary period, when the climate change triggered a period of great drought and low level Mediterranean, facilitating the migration of some steppe species.
It extends from the eastern, central, south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It is a plant of up to 1 m high, forming root balls or clumps scattered. Their formations are called espartales or atochares.
Uses
In times was grown for industrial purposes to produce esparto. Today its main value is ecological because it is a kind protector that prevents soil erosion of an ecosystem as fragile as the Iberian and North African steppe. With the fibers are made ropes, sandals, baskets and pads, manufacturing of esparto has been part of the economy of many villages in Spain and, although minor, still continues to work.
In the field of construction, is used to assemble the cast, giving it high tensile strength, especially in the formation of fasteners plaster sheets reinforced with fiberglass for the conduct of suspended ceilings.
Espartales
Its natural formations are called espartales, atochares and albardinales respectively and are representative of the vegetation of the steppe environments, filled, Iberian.
