Silk has long been termed 'the Queen of Fibres' and is the only continuous-filament natural fibre. Modern sericulture is concerned principally with the many hundreds of varieties of silk based upon Bombyx mori. Morus is the Latin word for the black mulberry tree and, hence, Bombyx mori is referred to as mulberry silk or cultivated silk. There are, however, also many other types of silk, such as the less-cultivated wild silks, among which Chinese Tussah (Antheraea pernyi) and Indian Tussah (Antheraea mylitta) are fed on oak leaves; Eri (Philosamia ricini) is fed on caster-oil-plant leaves; and Muga (Antheraea assamensis) is fed on varieties of polyanthus leaf. The cocoon colour of silk can thus vary from white to yellow, orange, green or dark brown, but the silk from Bombyx mori is usually whiter, finer and more lustrous than wild silks.
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