Ramie – Boehmeria nivea – is a member of the nettle family. This lustrous and super-smooth fibre is difficult to extract and clean. Used for high-class underwear and special threads as well as fancy papers, ramie awaits a techno-breakthrough, cheap labour to lower costs.
Ramie is the plant that saves the princess condemned to weave nettles into coats of mail in "The Swan," a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.