bark cloth

A non-woven textile made by beating the inner bark of certain trees and bushes until it is fine and soft. Bark cloth can be painted, stamped, embroidered, or cut and sewn as patchwork although it is relatively fragile, especially when wet. It was once used in almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, being reported as early as the mid-16th century in Liberia; today it is found in Ghana and Nigeria.