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PORCSTUY

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Philippine Palms and
Palm Products

By William H. Brown, Ph.D.

"Chief, Division of Investigation, Bureau of Forestry; Professor of Botany,
University of the Philippines; and Plant Physiologist, Bureau of Science

and

Elmer D. Merrill, M. S.

Botanist and Director, Bureau of Science

Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Bureau of Forestry

Bulletin No. 18

Arthur F. Fischer, Director of Forestry

MANILA
BUREAU OF PRINTING

1919

186908

Forestry

■A3

Philippine Palms and
Palm Products

By William H. Brown, Ph. D.

Chief, Division of Investigation, Bureau of Forestry; Professor of Botany,
University of the Philippines; and Plant Physiologist, Bureau of Science

and

Elmer D. Merrill, M. S.

Botanist and Director, Bureau of Science

Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Bureau of Forestry

Bulletin No. 18

Arthur F. Fischer, Director of Forestry

MANILA
BUREAU OF PRINTING

1919

166908

GIFT OF

ESTATE OF

HE1NRICH HASSELBRUW

OCT 1 6 14

CONTENTS

Illustrations 5

Preface 9

Introduction ^ 11

Key to Genera of Philippine Palms 12

Description of Species:

Actinorhytis 15

Adonidia 16

Areca „ 16

Arenga , 24

Calamus (rattans) 34

Caryota 66

Cocos (coconut) 60

Coelococcus (ivory-nut palm) 68

Corypha (buri) ...'. 68

Daemonorops 81

Elaeis (oil palm) 84

Heterospathe 84

Korthalsia 88

Licuala 88

Livistona 90

Metroxylon (sago palm) 96

Nipa : 98

Oncosperma 107

Orania 108

Oreodoxa (royal palm) 110

Phoenix 112

Pinanga 112

Plectocomia 118

Ptychoraphis 118

Zalacca 118

Summary of Useful Products ; 119

Index 125

ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate I

Coconut trees on the beach, Camiguin Island Frontispiece.

Plate II

P*ge.

Adonidia merrillii. From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. C, 5 (1909) 17

Plate III

Fruit of Adonidia merrillii. From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. C, 5

(1909) 18

Plate IV
Fruits of Areca catechu. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14 (1919) 21

Plate V
Fruits of Areca catechu. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14 (1919) 22

Plate VI

Fig. 1. Fruit of Areca parens. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14 (1919).. 25

2. Fruit of Areca macrocarpa. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14

(1919) 25

3. Fruit of Areca camarinensis. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14

(1919) 25

4. Fruit of Areca ipot. From Philip. Journ. Sci., 14 (1919) 25

Plate VII
Arenga pinnata. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 49 27

Plate VIII
Fruits of Arenga pinnata. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 49 29

Plate IX
Arenga tremula 33

Plate X

Rattans (Calamus) in forest 35

Plate XI

Male inflorescence of Calamus usitatus (mollis) . From Ann. Bot.
Gard. Calcutta 37

Plate XII

Fruits of Calamus usitatus. From Philip. Ag. Rev., 6 (1913),

No. 10.. 39

g ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate XIII

Page.

Fruits of Calamus ornatus var. philippinensis . From Ann. Bot.

Gard. Calcutta 41

Plate XIV
Rattans (Calamus) forming the bulk of the undergrowth in a forest
in Camarines 45

Plate XV
Caryota rumphiana 55

Plate XVI
Inflorescence of Caryota rumphiana 57

Plate XVII
Leaf of Caryota rumphiana 59

Plate XVIII
Coconut palm in fruit, Mindanao 61

Plate XIX

Coconut plantation in the Philippines. From Philip. Agr. Rev., 9

(1916) 62

Plate XX

Coconut grove with bamboo poles in trees for gathering tuba. From
Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A, 6 (1911) 63

Plate XXI

Coconut palm tapped for sap. On the left of the trunk at the level
of the man's head is hung a bamboo tube for collecting the sap.
The tube is almost hidden by the leaves. From Philip. Journ.
Sci., Sec. A, 6 (1911) 65

Plate XXII
Coconut palm tapped for sap 67

Plate XXIII

Rafts of coconuts. From Philip. Agr. Rev., 1 (1908) 69

Plate XXIV

Corypha elata and two specimens of Caryota. From Philip. Bur.
Ed. Bull. 49 71

Plate XXV
Corypha elata in flower. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 49 73

Plate XXVI
Young specimen of Corypha elata. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 49.... 75

ILLUSTRATIONS 7

Plate XXVII

Page.

Fig. 1. Outer and inner halves of one Calasiao hat. From Philip.

Journ. Sci., Sec. C, 6 (1911) 77

2. Completed buri-midrib (Calasiao) hat. From Philip. Journ.

Sci., Sec. C, 6 (1911) 77

Plate XXVIII

Portions of Philippine hats magnified four diameters. From Philip.

Journ. Sci., Sec. C, 6 (1911) 79

Fig. 1. Buntal (Lukban) 79

2. Buntal (Baliuag) 79

3. Calasiao 79

4. Buri leaf 79

Plate XXIX

Daemonorops mollis (gaudichaudii) . From Ann. Bot. Gard. Cal-
cutta 83

Plate XXX

Elaeis guineensis 85

Plate XXXI
Fruit of Elaeis guineensis 87

Plate XXXII
Heterospathe elata. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 53 89

Plate XXXIII
Licuala spinosa 91

Plate XXXIV
Livistona sp. in a clearing. From Philip. Bur. Sci., Pub. 13 93

Plate XXXV
Livistona cochinchinensis 94

Plate XXXVI
Livistona rotundifolia. From Philip. Bur. Ed. Bull. 53 95

Plate XXXVII

Metroxylon sagu. From Philip. Agr. Rev., 9 (1916) 97

Plate XXXVIII
Nipa fruticans on mud flats 99

Plate XXXIX

Fig. 1. View from top of San Esteban distillery. Nipa swamps as
far as the eye can reach. Nipa houses in the foreground.

From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A, 6 (1911) 101

2. Uncultivated nipa swamp. Legaspi, Albay Province. From

Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A, 6 (1911) 101

8 ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate XL

Page.

Cultivated nipa swamp. Bulacan. From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A,

6 (1911) 103

Plate XLI

Fig. 1. Collecting the nipa sap. Showing a native collector and two
bamboo joints (tuquils) in position to receive the sap.

From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A, 6 (1911) 105

2. Nipa palms in fruit. From Philip. Journ. Sci., Sec. A, 6

(1911) 105

Plate XLII
Orania palindan 109

Plate XLIII
Oreodoxa regia Ill

Plate XLIV
Pinanga philippinensis 113

PREFACE

The present Bulletin attempts to give a more or less popular
account of Philippine palms and their products. Available
publications on Philippine palms are, for the most part, either
of a highly technical and systematic nature, or else are scientific
papers dealing with the technical side of certain industrial
phases of the subject. Extensive accounts of the alcohol and
sugar possibilities of the more prominent species have been given
by Gibbs (The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands, parts I,
II, and III. Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. 6, 1911, and
Vol. 7, 1912) ; while hats made from palm fibers have been dis-
cussed at length by Miller and Robinson (Miller: Philippine
Hats. Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 35, 1910. Robinson :
Philippine Hats. Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. 6, 1911).
Arnold (Rattan supply of the Philippines, Special Agents Se-
ries, No. 95, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Wash-
ington) has written a long discussion of the rattan supply.
These sources have been drawn on extensively in the prepara-
tion of the present paper. The systematic consideration of
Philippine palms has been much simplified by the appearance
of a recent paper by Beccari (Philippine Palms. Philippine
Journal of Science, Vol. 14, 1919). The keys to, or rather the
conspecti of, the species of the various genera are taken from
that paper.

William H. Brown.

Elmer D. Merrill.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

By William H. Brown and Elmer D. Merrill
INTRODUCTION

The palm family is well represented in the Philippines, and
from an economic standpoint is a very important group of plants.
They furnish alcohol, starch, sugar, oils, fibers, building mate-
rials, edible fruits and buds, numerous substances used in in-
dustrial work, and other minor products.

The species of palms known to be native to the Philippines
number 123. Besides these there are five widely cultivated spe-
cies, some of which may be native. More than 100 of the native
species have not been reported from other countries.

The one large genus is Calamus, the climbing or rattan palms.
Most of the other genera are represented by few species and in
several cases by a single one. Some of the most important econo-
mic palms, such as the coconut palm, are not natives of the Phil-
ippines, but were introduced in prehistoric times. The native
species are mostly sylvan. Palms grow from sea level to alti-
tudes of at least 2,200 meters.

There are very few species of palms in the settled areas, but
they are frequently conspicuous either on account of their
abundance (coconut palm) or their great size (buripalm). One
of the very few strictly gregarious species is the nipa palm.
This occurs over considerable areas of salt-water swamps, to
the almost entire exclusion of all other vegetation. In a few
places the buri palm (Corypha) is dominant and gregarious,
while Livistona cochinchinensis (tarau) is gregarious and occurs
in immense numbers in the Cagayan valley. The coconut palm
is artificially gregarious on account of its cultivation over vast
areas. In ordinary forests, the palms, with the exception of the
climbing species Calamus and Daemonorops, are not usually
numerous, most erect palms being of local occurrence. The
climbing palms (rattans) are usually very numerous and cons-
picuous in most forests, except where they have been extensively
cut for commercial purposes. In fact, the most conspicuous
plants in the ground-covering of virgin forests at low altitudes
often are immature specimens of rattans.

12 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Key to the genera of Philippine palms.

1. Leaves simple, fan-like.

2. Leaves divided almost to base into 14 to 20 segments; stems tufted,
small. 13. Licuala.

2. Leaves not deeply divided; trunk stout, never tufted.

3. Trunk smooth, with annular scars; inflorescences axillary, pen-
dulous. 14. Livistona.
3. Trunk without annular scars, often 60 centimeters or more in dia-
meter; flowering-shoot terminating the trunk, the plant flowering
once and then dying. 8. Corypha.
1. Leaves bipinnate, leaflets cuneate at the base, rhomboid, oblique, the
tips resembling the fins or tails of fish. 6. Caryota.
1. Leaves pinnate.

2. Climbing spiny palms; leaf-sheaths and mid-ribs armed; fruit covered
with scales, usually shiny.

3. Leaflets rhomboid or wedge-shaped, whitish beneath; leaf -sheaths
usually inflated and occupied by ant nests. 12. Korthalsia.

3. Leaflets elongated, never rhomboid.

4. Branches of the inflorescences covered with very large, broad,

overlapping bracts concealing the flowers; the plant flowers once

and then dies. 22. Plectocomia-

4. Branches of the inflorescences only slightly expanded, bracts not

concealing the flowers; the plant flowers many times.

5. Spikelets in the axils of tubular or funnel-shaped spathels; flag-

ellae from end of midrib or from the leaf -sheaths. 5. Calamus.

5. Spikelets in the axils of large boat-shaped or open deciduous

spathels; flagellae always from end of the midrib.

9. Daemonorops.
2. Not climbing.

3. Tufted, spiny palms.

4. Growing in fresh-water swamps, the inflorescences terminating
the tall, mature trunks; the sago palm. 15. Metroxylon.

4. Growing on dry ground; stem short or none; inflorescence from
base. Rare, known only from Lanao. 24. Zalacca.

3. Stems creeping in the mud of salt-water swamps; trunks none; in-
florescences on short, erect stalks from the rhizomes, the infruc-
tescence a large globose head; the nipa palm. 16. Nipa.

3. Erect, simple palms, the stems never tufted (except some species of
Arenga) , the inflorescences always lateral, never terminal.
4. Inflorescences from the trunk at the base of the leaf -sheaths.
5. Trunks covered with long, slender spines. 17. Oncosperma.

5. Spineless palms.

6. Trunks large, swollen in the middle; the royal palm, cul-
tivated only. 19. Oreodoxa.
6. Trunks small or of medium size.

7. Female flowers few, at the base of the branches of the

inflorescences, much larger than the much more numerous

male ones. 3. Areca.

7. Flowers of both sexes alike in shape and size, or flowers

perfect.

8. Flowers in groups of threes on the spike-like branches
of the compound inflorescence. 2. Adonidia.

KEY TO GENERA OF PHILIPPINE PALMS

8. Flowers in two or three rows on the primary branches
of the once-branched inflorescence; sylvan species.

21. Pinanga.
8. Flowers spirally arranged on the branches; fruits large.

1. Actinorhytis.
4. Inflorescences axillary.

5. Leaf-sheaths with coarse, black fibers, the leaflets usually lobed
and usually auricled at the base, whitish beneath. 4. Arenga.

5. Not as above.
6. Petioles spiny.

7. Fruits in dense head; the oil palm, cultivated only.

10. Elaeis.
7. Inflorescences lax. 20. Phoenix.

6. Petioles unarmed.

7. Fruits large, 15 to 30 centimeters in diameter; the coco-
nut palm, cultivated. 7. Cocos.
7. Fruits smaller, never exceeding 10 centimeters in diameter.
8. Fruits 5 to 8 centimeters in diameter. 18. Orania.
8. Fruits less than 1 centimeter in diameter.

9. Fruits globose. 11. Heterospathe.

9. Fruits more or less ovoid. 23. Ptychoraphis.

LIST OF SPECIES

All of the palms known to be natives of, or naturalized in,
the Philippine Islands are given in the following list.

Actinorhytis calapparia Wendl. et

Drude.
Adonidia merrillii Becc.
Areca caliso Becc.
Areca camarinensis Becc.
Areca catechu L. Betel palm.
Areca catechu var. batanensis Becc.
Areca catechu var. longicarpa Becc.
Areca catechu var. silvatica Becc.
Areca costulata Becc.
Areca hut chins oniana Becc.
Areca ipot Becc.
Areca ipot var. polillensis Becc.
Areca macrocarpa Becc.
Areca parens Becc.
Areca vidaliana Becc.
Areca whitfordii Becc.
Areca whitfordii var. luzonensis

Becc.
Arenga ambong Becc.
Arenga pinnata (Wurmb) Merr.

Kaong or sugar palm.
Arenga tremula (mindorensis)

(Blanco) Becc.
Calamus arugda Becc.
Calamus bicolor Becc.
Calamus blancoi Kunth.

Calamus cumingianus Becc.
Calamus diepenhorstii var. exulans

Becc.
Calamus dimorphacanthus Becc.
Calamus dimorphacanthus var. mon-

talbanicus Becc.
Calamus dimorphacanthus var. zam-

balensis Becc.
Calamus discolor Mart.
Calamus discolor var. negrosensis

Becc.
Calamus elmerianus Becc.
Calamus filispadix Becc.
Calamus foxworthyi Becc.
Calamus grandifolius Becc.
Calamu<s halconensis Becc.
Calamus jenningsianus Becc.
Calamus manillensis H. Wendl.
Calamus maximus (merrillii) Blanco

(forma typica) .
Calamus maxima var. merrittianus

Becc.
Calamus maxima var. nanga Becc.
Calamus megaphyllus Becc.
Calamus melanorhynchus Becc.
Calamus meyerianus Schauer.
Calamus microcarpus Becc.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

Calamus microcarpus var. diminu-

tus Becc.
Calamus microsphaerion Becc.
Calamus microsphaerion var. spino-

sior Becc.
Calamus mindorensis Becc.
Calamus mitis Becc.
Calamus moseleyanus Becc.
Calamus multinervis Becc.
Calamus ornatus Blume var. phil-

ippinensis Becc.
Calamus ramulosus Becc.
Calamus reyesianus Becc.
Calamus samian Becc.
Calamus simphysipus Mart.
Calamus siphonospathus Mart.
Calamus siphonospathus var. bata-

nensis Becc.
Calamus siphonospathus var. oligo-

lepis, major Becc.
Calamus siphonospathus var. oligo-

lepis, minor Becc.
Calamus siphonospathus var. poly-

lepis Becc.
Calamus siphonospathus var. sub-

laevis Becc.
Calamus spinifolius Becc.
Calamus trispermus Becc.
Calamus usitatus (mollis) Blanco.
Calamus usitatus var. major Becc.
Calamus usitatus var. palawanicus

Becc.
Calamus vidalianus Becc.
Calamus vinosus Becc.
Calamus viridissimus Becc.
Caryota cumingii Lodd.
Caryota majestica Linden.
Caryota merrillii Becc.
Caryota mitis Lour.
Caryota rumphiana var. oxyodonta

Becc.
Caryota rumphiana var. philippinen-

sis Becc.
Cocos nucifera L. Coconut palm.
Corypha elata Roxb. Buri.
Daemonorops affinis Becc.
Daemonorops clemensianus Becc.
Daemonorops curranii Becc.
Daemonorops gracilis Becc.
Daemonorops loherianus Becc.
Daemonorops margaritae var. pato-

wanicus Becc.

Daemonorops mollis (gaudichaudii)
(Blanco) Merr.

Daemonorops ochrolepis Becc.

Daemonorops oligolepis Becc.

Daemonorops pannosus Becc.

Daemonorops pedicellaris Becc.

Daemonorops urdanetanus Becc.

Daemonorops virescens Becc.

Heterospathe elata Scheff.

Heterospathe negrosensis Becc.

Heterospathe philippinensis Becc.

Heterospathe sibuyanensis Becc.

Korthalsia laciniosa Mart.

Korthalsia merrillii Becc.

Korthalsia scaphigeroides Becc.

Korthalsia squarrosa Becc.

Licuala spinosa Wurmb.

Livistona cochinchinensis Mart.

Livistona merrillii Becc.

Livistona robinsoniana Becc.

Livistona rotundifolia Mart. Ana-
hau.

Livistona rotundifolia var. luzonen-
sis Becc.

Livistona rotundifolia var. micro-
carpa Becc.

Livistona rotundifolia var. mindo-
rensis Becc.

Metroxylon sagu Rottb. Sago.

iVipa fruticans Wurmb. Nipa.

Oncosperma filamentosum Blume.

Oncosperma gracilipes Becc.

Oncosperma horrida Scheff.

Oncosperma platyphylla Becc.

Orania decipiens Becc.

Orania decipiens var. mindanaoensis
Becc.

Orania decipiens var. montana Becc.

Orania paraguaensis Becc.

Orania philippinensis Scheff.

Orania philippinensis var. sibuya-
nensis Becc.

Orania rubiginosa Becc.

Phoenix hanceana var. philippinen-
sis Becc.

Pinanga barnesii Becc.

Pinanga basilanensis Becc.

Pinanga batanensis Becc.

Pinanga copelandii Becc.

Pinanga curranii Becc.

Pinanga elmerii Becc.

Pinanga geonomaeformis Becc.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 15

Pinanga heterophylla Becc. Pinanga rigida Becc.

Pinanga insignis Becc. (forma Pinanga samarana Becc.
typica). Pinanga sclerophylla Becc.

Pinanga insignis var. gasterocarpa

Becc.
Pinanga insignis var. leptocarpa

Pinanga sibnyanensis Becc.
Pinanga speciosa Becc.
Pinanga urdanetana Becc.

Becc. j Pinanga urosperma Becc.
Pinanga insignis var. loheriana ! Pwanga woodxana Becc.

Becc. I Plectocomia elmerii Becc.
Pinanga isabelensis Becc. Ptychoraphis cagayanensis Becc.

Pinanga maculata Porte. Ptychoraphis elmerii Becc.

Pinanga modesta Becc. . Ptychoraphis intermedia Becc.
Pinanga negrosensis Becc. Ptychoraphis microcarpa Becc.

Pinanga philippinensis Becc. Zalacca clemensiana Becc.

DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES

Genus ACTINORHYTIS Wendland et Drude

ACTINORHYTIS CALAPPARIA Wendl. et Dr. TANGALO.

Local name: Tangalo (Bagobo).

This is a handsome, tall, slender, pinnate-leafed palm, widely
distributed in the Malay archipelago. Reported from Davao
district, Mindanao, where it was probably introduced.

Genus ADONIDIA Beccari

ADONIDIA MERRILLII Becc. (Plate II, III). Bunga DE China.

Local names: Bung a de China, bunga de J old (Span.-Fil.) ; oring-oring
(Tagbanua).

This species is the only representative of the genus and is
known only from the Philippines. In Manila it is extensively
cultivated for ornamental purposes. The species was originally
described from material taken from cultivated specimens in Ma-
nila, its origin being unknown. Since then its original home
has been located, as it occurs in abundance on limestone forma-
tions in Palawan and the Calamianes Islands (Coron). In
habit this palm resembles the betel palm, but it is not so tall,
and its leaves are much more strongly arched. It reaches a
height of 8 meters and a diameter of 10 to 15 centimeters.
The leaves are about 2 meters long with 40 to 50 pairs of leaf-
lets. Its inflorescence, too, is quite different from that of the
betel palm. The bright-crimson fruits, contrasting with the
whitish fruit-stalks and sheaths, are very ornamental. The
fruits are said sometimes to be used as a substitute for the betel
nut, in preparing buyo (fruit of Areca catechu, leaves of Piper
betle, and lime) for chewing. The name "Bunga de Jolo,"
which is very seldom used, may indicate the true origin of the

16 PHILIPPINE PALMS

trees that now occur in Manila, as the palm may grow on the
island of Jolo (Sulu), and does occur in the part of Palawan
inhabited by the Sulu Moros.

Genus ARECA Linnaeus

This genus of pinnate-leaved palms is represented by the
widely cultivated Areca catechu L. and nine endemic species.
The endemic species are of little economic value, but Areca ca-
techu is extensively cultivated throughout the Archipelago.

Conspectus of the Philippine species.

a\ Floriferous branches bearing only one or very few female flowers,
sessile on their basal thickened part, and the geminate male flowers
in distichous alternate indentures in their upper slender part.
b\ Spadices spreadingly twice or thrice branched; palms with tall slender
stems and relatively large fruits. (§ Euareca.)
c\ Male flowers narrowly lanceolate (unknown in A. Whitfordii) ;
rudimentary ovary conspicuous, trifid, as long as, or longer
than, the stamens; anthers acute or acuminate. Female flowers
with broadly imbricate sepals about as broad and long as the
petals. Fruit with the pericarp finally entirely disintegrating
into very fine and soft fibers.
d\ Fruit having the mesocarp considerably thicker at both ends
than at the sides, and the seed inserted considerably above the
base.
c\ Seed having the vascular bundles of the integument arching
on the sides, and strongly anastomosing immediately from

its base, even on the raphal side 1. A. Catechu.

f. Fruit orange-red; globose-ovoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, not more
than one-third or one-fourth longer than broad (4 to 5
cm long, 3 to 4 cm broad). Seed subglobose with a more

or less flattish base A. Catechu (forma communis.)

f. Fruit ovoid-ellipsoid, rather ventricose, smaller than usual
(4 cm long and 3 cm or a little less broad) ; seed globose-
depressed or broader than high, the base flat.

A. Catechu var. silvatica.
f z . Stems thicker and shorter than in forma communis; spadix
denser and with shorter floriferous branches.

A. Catechu var. batanensis.

f\ Fruit narrowly ellipsoid; twice, and even more, as long as

broad (5.5 to 7 cm long, 2.5 cm broad). Seed ovoid-conical

with a blunt apex and flat base, slightly longer than broad.

A. Catechu var. longicarpa.

e 2 . Seed having the vascular bundles of the integument arising

straight, almost erect, from the raphal side and slightly

branching. Fruit elongate-ellipsoid, twice as long as broad

(7 cm long, 3.2 to 3.5 cm broad). Seed ovoid-conical with

a blunt apex 2. A. macrocarpa.

d?. Fruit ellipsoid-fusiform, twice and more as long as broad, having
the mesocarp not much thicker at the ends than at the sides.
See<J placed nearly in the middle of the pericarp and equally
narrowing to both ends.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE II. ADONIDIA MERRILLII (BUNGA DE CHINA).

166908 2

PHILIPPINE PALMS

PLATE III. FRUIT OF ADONIDIA MERRILLII (BUNGA DE CHINA).

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 19

e\ Fruit 4 to 4.5 cm long, 1 to 2 cm broad 3. A. Whitfordii.

e 2 . Fruit larger, 5.5 cm long, 2 cm broad.

A. Whitfordii var. luzonensis.
c 2 . Male flowers relatively large, ovoid-subtrigonous or trapezoidal;
rudimentary ovary small, slender, entire, subulate, shorter than
the stamens; anthers very obtuse. Sepals of the female flower
considerably smaller than the petals. Fruit large, ovoid, about
6 cm long, 3.5 cm broad, the pericarp fibrous in its outer half,
woody in the inner half. Seed broadly ovoid, its vascular
bundles very numerous, parallel and almost undivided, ascending

from the raphal side 4. A. parens.

b 2 . Spadices simply branched. Female flowers clustered around the main

axis, solitary, sessile or nearly so, at the base of the branchlets;

the latter slender and bearing alternately distichous male flowers.

(§ Balanocarpus.) (Of A. camarinensis the detached fruits only

are known, and it is doubtfully placed here.)

c\ A palm with the habit of Areca Catechu but smaller (stem about

4 m high, 7 to 12 cm in diameter) ; fruiting spadix dense,

cylindraceous-oblong, about 14 cm long, 6 to 7 cm thick. Fruit

ovoid, very similar to that of A. Catechu, 5 cm long, 3 cm broad.

Seed globose with rounded (not flat) base and with the vascular

bundles of the integument very close together, much anastomosing

and forming very narrow loopholes all around the seed.

5. A. Ipot.
d\ A smaller plant, the stem 5 cm in diameter, the spadix smaller,
with fewer female flowers, and forming a shorter mass.

A. Ipot var. polillensis.

c 2 . Fruit ovoid, 4 to 5 cm long, 3 cm broad. Seed conical-ovoid; the

vascular bundles of the integument forming a uniform network

all around the seed with lozenge-shaped loopholes. Otherwise

the fruit is similar to that of A. Catechu 6. A. camarinensis.

Floriferous branches bearing several female flowers on their basal parts,
gradually narrowing above and bearing male flowers only in pairs
on alternating notches. Low palms with relatively small or medium-
sized fruits. (§ Arecella.)
b 1 . Spadix simply branched, with thickish floriferous branches appressed
to the main axis, and bearing in their basal part numerous,
approximate, alternate, female flowers. Male flowers hexandrous,
the calyx with three small, distinct sepals; anthers acute. Fruiting
perianth cupular, truncate, the petals exactly equaling the sepals.
Fruit ellipsoid, 3 to 3.5 cm long, 20 to 22 mm thick, the pericarp

entirely dissolving into very fine, soft fibers 7. A. Caliso.

b' 2 . Spadix twice loosely branched; floriferous branches slender, bearing
in their basal part three or four alternate, rather distant, female
flowers, and in the upper and slenderer part alternate male flowers.
Calyx of the male flowers subpedicelliform, shortly 3-dentate with
a solid base; anthers bifid at the apex. Fruit small, pluricostulate,
ellipsoid, the pericarp formed by only two layers of rigid com-

planate fibers 8. A. costulata.

Spadix diffusely, two or three times branched, the floriferous branches
bearing one or more female flowers in their lower part, and above
male flowers in pairs in unilateral notches. Low slender palms having
very small male flowers, with the calyx completely divided into three
sepals. Fruit small. (§ Arecopsis.)

20 PHILIPPINE PALMS

b 1 . Male flowers 2.5 to 3 mm long; stamens 6; rudimentary ovary as
long as the stamens, divided into three points. Female flowers
ovate, obtuse, 8 mm long, 4.5 to 5 mm broad. Fruit small, oblong-
ellipsoid or subfusiform, 17 to 19 mm long and broad; pericarp
rather thin, the mesocarp formed by only two layers of slender,
but rigid, flattened, parallel fibers 9. A. Vidaliana.

b 2 . Male flowers smaller than in A. Vidaliana (2 mm or a little longer) ;
stamens 6; rudimentary ovary as long as the stamens, trifid. Fe-
male flowers ovoid, conical, narrowing to an acute point, larger
than in A. Vidaliana, 13 to 14 mm long, 7 mm broad at the base.
Fruit also larger, ellipsoid-elongate or subfusiform, about 3 cm long,
9 mm broad 10. A. Hut chins oniana.

ARECA CATECHU L. (Plates IV, V). Bunga or Betel palm.

Local names: Boa (Iloko) ; bunga (Tagalog, Bisaya, Bikol) ; bua (Ca-
gayan) ; ddpiau (Bataan) ; lugos (Zamboanga) ; luyos (Pampanga) ; pasd
(Basilan) ; takobtob (Bikol).

This tall and slender tree is one of the characteristic palms
found in and about towns throughout the settled areas of the
Philippines. Areca catechu reaches a height of 10 meters and
a diameter of 10 to 15 centimeters. It has dark-green, pinnate
leaves about 3 meters long. The reddish-yellow fruits are
found on the stem below the leaves. It is frequently sponta-
neous and occurs in second-growth forests, but is rarely found
distant from cultivation. In the Philippines it has been re-
ported from the virgin forest in only a single locality in Palawan,
and there where an old trail crossed a small stream.

Beccari * says that Areca catechu, variety silvatica, may pos-
sibly represent the original plant from which the commonly cul-
tivated palm has been derived. According to Beccari there are
in the Philippines various forms of Areca so closely related to
Areca catechu as to afford good reason to believe that in these
Islands Areca catechu finally assumed the specific character
which it now exhibits. In no other part of southern and eastern
Asia or Malaysia is there any species of Areca which in any way
approaches Areca catechu.

In the Philippines, as in all the Indo-Malayan and Polynesian
region, the fruits of this palm are extensively utilized for chew-
ing with lime and the leaves of the betel pepper (Piper betle
Linn.), locally known as ikmo. The mixture is known in dif-
ferent parts of the Philippines as biiyo, maman, or mamon. The
areca fruit is cut into rather thin slices, sprinkled with lime,
and the slices wrapped in fresh ikmo leaves. Tobacco is some-
times added to the mixture. The chewing of buyo, which is
exceedingly prevalent in the Philippines, colors the expectorated

* Beccari, O., Palms of the Philippine Islands. Philippine Journal of
Science, Volume 14 (1919), pages 295-362.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Pig. 1. Areca catechu (semisilvatica). 2. A. Catechu var. silvatica. 3. A. Catechu (communis),

PLATE IV.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

Fig. 1. Areca Catechu var. alba. 2. A. Catechu var. longicarpa. 3. A. Catechu var. por-

toricensis.

PLATE V.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 23

saliva a characteristic red; and its continued use blackens the
teeth and gums, eventually destroying the teeth themselves.
Buyo is very generally regarded as a tonic and a general stim-
ulant, but its excessive use is certainly harmful. Tavera cites
as symptoms of excessive use of buyo : loss of appetite, salivation,
and general degeneration of the organism. He notes also that
beginners usually experience a disagreeable combination of
symptoms, including constriction of the esophagus, a sensation
of heat in the head, red and congested face, dizziness, etc. The
fruits contain about 18 per cent tannin, and from 14 to 17 per
cent of fatty material. They are used to some extent in the
Philippines in dyeing red and black shades. In the Indo-Malayan
region they are generally used as a vermifuge. The active
principle, arecaine, according to Jahns, is poisonous. It affects
the respiration, the heart, increases the peristalsis of the in-
testines, and causes tetanic convulsions. The bud or "ubud" is
edible either raw as a salad or cooked, but Tavera states that
disagreeable sensations, corresponding to those experienced
when one first chews the nut, are caused by eating it. The
large, tough, sheathing parts of the leaves are used as a sub-
stitute for cardboard or strawboard, in protecting packages;
for making the odd hats worn by some of the wild people in
Mindanao (Manobos, etc.) ; for the inner soles of slippers; by
school-children for book-covers; and, were they available in
sufficient abundance, would apparently make excellent paper-
pulp material. The husks are used for toothbrushes. These
are made by cutting off one end of a piece of the husk square
across the grain and scraping away the pulp for a short dis-
tance. The stiff fibers remain like a row of short bristles.

While this palm is of considerable importance in the internal
commerce of the Archipelago, the fruits appearing on sale
throughout the Islands, it does not enter at all, or only to a very
slight extent, into the foreign commerce of the Philippines.
The fruit is exported to India in considerable quantities from
Java, Sumatra, Singapore, and other parts of the Malayan region.

A number of forms, such as biingang-matulia, bungang-
pato, and tagabunga, are distinguished by the Filipinos. These
distinctions are based chiefly, if not entirely, on the shape of
the fruit.

ARECA CALISO Becc. Kaliso.

Local names: Kaliso (Bagobo) ; sakolon (Manobo).

This is a species growing on mountain slopes and in dense,
humid woods. It is a slender palm about 7 to 15 centimeters in
diameter and reaches a height of 6 meters or more. The leaves

24 PHILIPPINE PALMS

are about 3 meters in length. The Manobos use the fruit as a
substitute for the betel nut. The sap is also collected and used
as a beverage of an inferior quality.

ARECA HUTCHINSONIANA Becc. PlSA.

Local names: Bunga, pisd (Moro).

A pinnate-leafed palm with a diameter of about 15 centi-
meters. The immature fruit is white; the mature, yellow.

ARECA I POT Becc. (Plate VI). Bungang-i'pot.

Local names: Bungang-ipot, ipod, ipot, mangipod, saksik, saksig
(Tagalog).

This palm somewhat resembles a dwarfed Areca catechu in
habit. It never exceeds 4 meters in height and is often much
smaller than this. The infructescence is very different from
that of the above species, the fruits being densely crowded. It
is common in the towns surrounding Mount Banajao, in the
Provinces of Laguna and Tayabas, Luzon, in various provinces
in southern Luzon, and in Polillo. It is chiefly planted for
ornamental purposes, although the fruit is sometimes used as
a substitute for the true betel nut (Areca catechu), to which it
is, however, considered much inferior.

ARECA VIDALIANA Becc.

Local names: Boga, pita (Palawan).

This is a very slender palm widely distributed in Palawan
and occurring also in Mindoro. Its trunks do not exceed 3 or 4
centimeters in diameter and it rarely exceeds 3 meters in height.
It is a sylvan species, growing at low and medium altitudes,
and is decidedly ornamental, although nowhere utilized.

ARECA WHITFORDII Becc. Bungang-GUBAT.

This species is allied to Areca catechu, but has thicker trunks,
about 20 centimeters in diameter, and differs in numerous other
ways. It grows in the semi-swampy forests in eastern Min-
doro, where it is known as bungang-gubat, literally "wild
bunga." No special economic use has been reported.

Genus ARENGA Labillardiere

This genus is represented by four species, of which the sugar
palm is by far the most common and widely distributed and the
most valuable economically.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Leaflets elongate, narrow, having smooth or remotely and minutely
toothed margins, the secondary nerves parallel, all starting from the
base.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Fig. 1. Areca parens. 2. A. macrocarpa. 3. A. camarinensis. 4. A. Ipot.
PLATE VI.

26 PHILIPPINE PALMS

b\ Large, with solitary stems. Fruit more or less turbinate, 3 cm or
more in diameter. Male flowers with very numerous stamens;

anthers aristate 1. A. saccharifera.

b'\ Relatively small and caespitose. Male flowers with 20 to 30 stamens;
anthers blunt or slightly apiculate. Fruit spherical, 15 to 18 mm in

diameter 2. A. mindorensis.

a 2 . Leaflets elongate, yet broad, margins very irregularly undulate or else

very boldly toothed, or lobed; secondary nerves divergent from the

rachis at different levels.

6\ Caespitose; stem attaining 2 to 3 m in height and 15 cm in diameter.

Male flowers with a rounded top. Stamens about 150. Fruit longer

than broad, rounded at both ends 3. A. tremula.

b'\ Stem short and thick, about 30 cm in diameter. Male flowers
apiculate. Stamens about 100. Fruit spherical 4. A. Ambong.

ARENGA AMBONG Becc. Ambung.

Local name: Ambung (Moro).

This palm, like Arenga tremula, has a very short stem and
grows in large tufts or clumps. It is much larger than the
above species and is characterized by its very much broader
leaflets which are prominently lobed, about 70 centimeters long
and from 6 to 10 centimeters wide. It occurs in Palawan, Ba-
labac, Mindanao, Cebu, southern Luzon, and probably in some
other islands. Arenga ambong is a very beautiful species, but
is never cultivated in the Philippines for ornamental purposes,
although well worthy of being so used. The buds (libud) are
edible. In Palawan, the aborigines, Tagbanuas, use blowguns
and small poisoned darts made of bamboo. Small obconic plugs
secured from the pith of this palm are put on the upper ends of
the darts for the purpose of making them fit closely the bore of
the blowgun. This species probably has other economic uses,
but no definite ones have been as yet recorded.

ARENGA PINNATA (Wurmb) Merr. (Plates VII, VIII). Kaong or

Sugar palm.
Local names: Bagatbdt (Oriental Negros) ; batbdt (Bohol) ; cabo negro
(Spanish-Filipino, "black rope") ; ebiok, ibiok (Bohol) ; habiok (Capiz) ;
hibiok (Capiz, Occidental Negros) ; hidiok (Camarines, Albay, Antique,
Capiz) ; igok (Antique) ; irok (Zambales, Cavite, Tayabas, Mindoro) ; kaong
(Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna) ; kauing (Bataan) ; ondu, undu (Misamis,
Surigao) ; rapitan (Ilocos provinces).

This rather large palm (commonly known as Arenga sac-
charifera Labill.) is characterized among the Philippine species
by its very long, ascending, pinnate leaves, which are up to
8.5 meters in length with 100 or more pairs of linear leaflets
which are whitish beneath, 1 to 1.5 meters long, lobed at the
apex and auricled at the base. The large axillary, pendulous
inflorescence is also characteristic. Arenga pinnata reaches a

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE VII. ARENGA PINNATA (SUGAR PALM).

28 PHILIPPINE PALMS

height of from 12 to 15 meters and a diameter of 40 centimeters.
When the tree has attained mature size, a flowering- shoot is
usually sent out from the axil of the upper leaf. This is fol-
lowed by others which are produced successively lower down,
until the tree is finally exhausted and dies. Arenga pinnata has
very numerous, crowded, green nuts, which turn yellow when
mature. This palm is widely distributed at low and medium
altitudes throughout the settled areas of the Philippines, in
ravines along streams, and in semi-cultivation. It may not
however be native to the Philippines, but a species purposely
introduced by the Malays in their early invasions. Its occa-
sional occurrence in virgin forest may be due to the fact that
it is naturally a sylvan species, and that its ripe fruits have been
distributed by wild hogs and fruit bats, both of which eat the
mature fruit.

The sugar palm is one of considerable utility in the Philip-
pines, although no product of it enters into foreign commerce.
It yields sugar, starch, fermented drink, alcohol, thatching
material, various fibers that are utilized in industrial work,
and other minor products.

The fruits are about 5 centimeters in diameter and contain
two or three seeds. Immature seeds are sometimes eaten by
the Filipinos, being usually boiled with sugar to form a kind
of sweetmeat. The buds make an excellent salad.

The outer part of the fruit contains very numerous, micros-
copic, needle-like, stinging crystals or rhaphides; and this part
of the fruit is exceedingly irritating. Blanco relates how, in
former times, the fruits were thrown into the water and allowed
to decay, and the resulting fluid, which causes intense itching
and burning sensations wherever it comes in contact with the
skin, used sometimes to repel the attacks of Mohammedan pi-
rates. Another interesting use of this "Hell water", as de-
scribed by Rumphius, * was to pour the liquid into streams,
thus rendering fish more or less helpless, so that they might
be seized with the hands. At the present time the crushed
fruits are sometimes strewn along the paths on the banks and
dikes of fish ponds to protect them against nocturnal robbers,
as the stinging needles in the pericarp irritate the bare feet.

The leaves are sometimes used for thatching roofs, and are
said to be very durable. For this purpose the leaflets are re-
moved and prepared in a manner similar to that of preparing
the nipa palm. The midribs of the leaflets are frequently used

* Herbarium Amboinense. Volume I (1741), page 57.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE VIII. FRUITS OF ARENGA PINNATA (SUGAR PALM).

30 PHILIPPINE PALMS

for rough brooms, and are sometimes woven into coarse baskets.
Splints prepared from the petioles vary in color from greenish-
white through various shades of brown to nearly black, depend-
ing on the age of the leaf. They are used in making baskets
and for a sort of marquetry work on tables, stands, screens, boxes
and other light pieces of furniture. The bud (libud) , either raw
or cooked, makes a fine salad.

The most important industrial yield of this palm is, however,
the black tough fiber locally known as yunot or cabo negro
(eju or gomuto fiber). This stiff, black, tough, horsehair-like
fiber is produced at the base of the petioles in considerable
quantities, and is employed in the Philippines chiefly for manu-
facturing rope for use in salt water, and for thatching houses.

For the latter purpose, it is prized not only for its remarkable
durability against exposure to either fresh or salt water, but
also because it does not readily burn. Well-informed Filipinos
claim that as thatch it will last for 100 years ; Blanco states that
when so used it will last 30 years or more. Its cost is com-
paratively high. This fiber is in demand in Europe for certain
industrial purposes, but there is no record that it ranks among
the exports of the Philippines. Heyne * quotes its price at
from 12 to 35 pounds per ton, according to grade, length of
fiber, etc., and gives the Javan export for the year 1912 as 31
tons.

In the Philippines, the stiffer fibers are used for making
brushes of various types, such as floor and hair brushes, brushes
for cleaning horses, etc. A minor local use is for the purpose
of tying epiphytic orchids to pieces of wood in establishing
these plants under cultivation. Thatch-like raincoats are some-
times made of it.

Associated with the black, stiff fibers of the basal parts of
the petiole is an entirely different substance, soft, light, dry,
punky, varying in color from nearly white to rather dark shades.
This material, called barok, is used in caulking boats ; formerly,
and perhaps still to a very limited extent, as tinder. For the
latter purpose it is first soaked in the juice of the banana plant
or of talbak (Kolowratia elegans Presl), or in lye made from
the ashes of the lagundi (Vitex negundo L.), and then dried.f
According to Heyne, from 60 to 75 tons of this material are
exported from Cheribon, Java, to Singapore each year under
the name of zwam ( Dutch = sponge or tinder).

* Heyne, De Nuttige Planten van Nederlandsch-Indie. Volume I (1913),
page 114.

f Blanco, M., Flora de Filipinas. Edicion II (1845), pagina 512.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 31

Starch in the form of a kind of sago is secured from this
palm by a general process of extracting quite similar to that used
with Metroxylon, Conjpha, and other palms. The tree is felled
and the interior fibrous part of the trunk cut into chips or
small pieces, which are eventually thoroughly crushed or pul-
verized. The crushed material is then washed in a trough, and
the water, with the starch in suspension, drawn off into a
settling-tank. In practice the starch is usually washed with
several changes of water, but is eventually dried in the sun.
If well prepared, it is rather white and comparatively pure.
As in the case of the true sago {Metroxylon) and the buri
(Corypha), sl kind of tapioca is sometimes prepared from this
starch, by dropping wet pellets of it on hot plates. The es-
timated yield per tree is from 50 to 75 kilos of starch. The
debris, after most of the starch is washed out, is sometimes
boiled and used to feed hogs. It is claimed by Barrett * and
Hines f that in Cavite Province, Luzon, starch is secured only
from the male or sterile trees, and that before the tree is felled
for starch the inflorescences are removed as they appear, for a
period of about one year. Hines states also that the trees are
tested as to the amount of starch present by cutting notches
in the lower part of the trunk and examining the pithy part.
Starch production from this palm is apparently only a local
industry, and the product is perhaps used only when there is
a scarcity of other food. Blanco % speaks of it as miserable
food, and wonders that the natives were content with it, adding
that the civilized ones scarcely used it at all.

The tree is apparently much more commonly tapped for its
sweet sap than utilized as a source of starch. This sap is
used for the production of sugar, a fermented drink called tuba,
vinegar, and sometimes distilled alcohol. * The method of tap-
ping is as follows : — An inflorescence stalk is selected and beaten
with a stick or wooden mallet for a short period each day. This
beating sometimes extends over a period of two or three weeks,
the object being to produce wound tissue and stimulate the flow
of sap to the injured part. The stalk is then cut off at the
base of the inflorescence, and the exuding sap caught in a hol-
low joint of bamboo. A thin slice is removed from the wounded
end of the stalk once or twice each day during the period of

* Barrett, O. W., The sugar palm. Philippine Agricultural Review,
Volume 7 (1914), pages 216 to 221.

t Hines, C. W., Sugar-palm sap. Philippine Agricultural Review, Vol-
ume 7 (1914), pages 222 to 228.

$ Blanco, M., Flora de Filipinas (1837), page 741.

32 PHILIPPINE PALMS

sap flow. The yield varies greatly, depending on climatic con-
ditions, the age of the tree, and the length of time the sap has
been running. According to Hines, the flow gradually dimin-
ishes from 10 or 12 to 2 liters per day after two and one-half
months. Gibbs,* however, reports a maximum of over 2 liters
per day on two trees tapped under his directions.

Ordinarily the sap is allowed to ferment, the product being
known as tuba. This palm wine is a very popular drink in
the Philippines and corresponds to the tuba of the coconut,
buri, and nipa palms. Tuba is popularly supposed to have
curative properties, especially for persons suffering from tu-
berculosis. Fermentation commences in the bamboo tubes in
which the sap is collected, and is usually well advanced when
the product is gathered.

In some regions much of the tuba gathered from the sugar
palm is converted into vinegar of a good quality. Alcohol is
distilled from the fermented tuba only to a very limited extent.

Sugar is made in some parts of the Philippines by boiling the
sweet, unfermented sap of this palm. The general practice is
to use a new receiver (bamboo joint) for the sap each day,
because old receivers would at once start fermentation. To
prevent rapid fermentation a little crushed ginger or crushed
chile-pepper fruit is sometimes added to the receiver.f In Java,
for the same purpose, the bamboo joints are smoked before
being used for collecting the sap. The general method of man-
ufacturing sugar is to thicken the juice by boiling in an open
kettle until the liquid is of such consistency that a drop of it
will solidify when it falls on a cold surface. Sugar manufacture
on a commercial scale has apparently never been attempted, and
various authors who have investigated the sugar possibilities
of this palm, have considered its commercial cultivation im-
practicable. Both Barrett f and Hines J give optimistic reports
regarding the possible commercial utilization of this palm
as a source of sugar ; the former reporting an estimated annual
yield of 20 tons of sugar per hectare, with from 150 to 200 trees,
the latter that 20 tons of sugar per hectare would be the mini-
mum yield with an average of 160 trees. It seems probable
that these estimates were based on insufficient data, especially

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands, Philippine
Journal of Science, Volume 6 (1911), Section A, pages 147 to 206.

f Barrett, O. W., The sugar palm. Philippine Agricultural Review,
Volume 7 (1914), pages 216 to 221.

J Hines, C. W., Sugar-palm sap, Philippine Agricultural Review, Vol-
ume 7 (1914), pages 222 to 228.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

34 PHILIPPINE PALMS

as Gibbs reports a very much smaller sap flow from Philippine
palms than do Barrett and Hines, while De Vry * and Ta-
chirch,f give the estimated sugar yield at a much lower figure
than do these writers. The small amount of sugar produced
in the Philippines is brown in color, resembles that secured
from the buri palm (Corypha), and enters the local commerce
of the Philippines to a very limited degree.

ARENGA TREMULA (Blanco) Becc. (A. mindorensis Becc). (Plate IX).

Dumayaka.
Local names: Abigi, abiki, gumakd rumakd (Bikol) ; abiki (Tagalog);
banisan (Moro) ; baris (Bagobo) ; batbdt (Tagbanua) ; belts, tipon-tipon
(Bisaya) ; dumayaka, dayumdka, gumaydka (Tagalog).

This small-sized, endemic palm, often growing in large clumps
or tufts, is very distinctly ornamental, and on this account
well worthy of extended cultivation. There are now some
beautiful specimens in cultivation in Manila. It is usually only
3 to 4 meters in height, the trunk usually being very short or
almost wanting. The petioles are rather long, while the leaflets
are narrow, linear, 20 to 35 centimeters long and from 13 to
18 millimeters wide, toothed and sometimes slightly lobed at
the apex. It is widely distributed in the central Philippines,
but is of very local occurrence, although abundant in some lo-
calities. The peduncles of the inflorescences are said to be
sometimes tapped for the juice or tuba; but as the palm is de-
cidedly small, the tuba yield must be slight, so that it is certainly
very little utilized for this purpose. The chief use of the palm
is found in the industrial materials it yields, these being es-
pecially good for the manufacture of certain types of baskets.
Splints are prepared from the petioles and vary in color from
light to dark brown when the epidermis is removed. Parts
showing the epidermis are grayish green.

The bud, if eaten in considerable quantity, is said to cause
a sort of intoxication followed by long and profound sleep.

Genus CALAMUS Linnaeus

The Rattans (Plates X-XIV).

This genus is represented in the Philippines by many species,
while individuals are exceedingly abundant in the forested areas
of the Archipelago. The rattan palms are strictly sylvan, and
individuals are most abundant at low and medium altitudes in
the virgin forest. They are occasionally found in thickets or
in the second-growth forests, but never in the open country.

* Watt, A dictionary of the economic products of India.
t Indische Heil-und Nutzflanzen.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

36 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Locally, the rattan palms are of very great importance, yet
the exports of the prepared cane are negligible at the present
time. The stems vary considerably in size, depending on the
species, the Philippine forms ranging from less than one-half
centimeter to as much as 5 centimeters in diameter. All of
our species are climbing, some of them reaching such lengths
as 100 to 200 meters. In a few species, the slightly swollen
basal part, just above the surface of the ground, contains a
considerable amount of starch and is sometimes roasted and
eaten by woodsmen who run out of food. The bud of some
species is likewise edible, but in most species is too bitter. The
species commonly eaten have a mild bitter flavor, very like that
of dandelion salad. A few species have an edible, gelatinous
pulp, either sweet or sour, surrounding the seed. The stems
of certain forms produce good drinking water, a feature of
considerable importance to the woodsman when drinking water
is not otherwise available.

The real value of the rattan palms, however, is found in the
very long stems, which are of uniform diameter throughout,
except for the very base and apex.

The outer portion of these stems, or so-called canes, has great
tensile strength, while the outer surface is very hard.

The rattan-gatherer enters the forest, selects the cane he
desires, cuts it off just above the surface of the ground, and
pulls down the entire plant, whose tip is in the tops of the
tallest trees. The palm is then stripped of leaves and the cane
cut into convenient lengths, ranging from 3 to 6 meters, which
are bent sharply at the middle and tied into bundles for con-
venient transportation. The external part may be stripped from
the cane right in the forest, or the entire canes may be trans-
ported, depending on how the product is to be utilized. The
entire stems of species that are of a proper size are used for
making "bent-wood" chair frames, as cables for ferry boats,
for hauling logs, standing-rigging on small sailing-vessels, and
sometimes to support short suspension bridges. The split canes
are used for making mats, hats, baskets, chairs, various types
of fish traps, and the bottoms and backs of the so-called "cane-
bottomed' ' chairs, these latter being the most familiar products
made from the rattan palm. The interior part of the stem is
softer than the outer part ; but split into strips, or in the form of
round rods left after peeling off the cortex, it is much utilized
in making so-called "reed" furniture. Among the Moham-
medan inhabitants of the Philippines, the entire canes are used
for making a peculiar kind of mat or screen. The canes are

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XI. MALE INFLORESCENCE OF CALAMUS USITATUS (MOLLIS)
(A RATTAN).

38 PHILIPPINE PALMS

cut into proper lengths and then attached by their sides to
form an oblong mat or screen that can readily be rolled up.
Buffers of rattan are made in Cavite in enormous numbers by
the United States Navy.

The rattan strips, so familiar as the "cane" in certain types
of chairs, are the most important product of this genus in the
Philippines. They are locally utilized for all purposes for which
rope or cord may be used. Most of the houses in the Archipelago
are of light construction, framed wholly or in part with bam-
boo and thatched with palm leaves or grass. The frames of
these houses are usually tied together with strips of rattan.
Commercially, large quantities of it are used in baling tobacco,
abaka (Manila hemp), etc., and for tying the mat bags in which
practically all the sugar of the Philippines is packed for export.

A species found in Palawan and Surigao furnishes material
for very fine walking-sticks, known in commerce as Malacca
canes.

GENERAL SUPPLY OF RATTAN

The virgin forests of the Philippines, according to Whitford,*
cover 104,000 square kilometers (40,000 square miles), and in
nearly all of the virgin forests, except those near the tops of
high mountains, rattans are abundant ; in fact, the young rattans
are often the most prominent element in the ground-covering
of these virgin forests, while older specimens are very conspicu-
ous and lend character to the appearance of the forest. In some
localities large quantities of rattan have been taken from the
forests, but except in the immediate neighborhood of places
having a considerable population, the amount has not been ap-
preciably reduced. It is practically impossible to make any es-
timate of the total amount available. Some attempt has been
made to determine the actual average yield for a given area.
Two plots in the forest of the eastern portion of Mindoro, each
25 meters square, were cut over and the yield of rattan of com-
mercial grade estimated to be at the rate of 5,000 lineal meters
per hectare, or about, 6,700 feet per acre. This yield is believed
to be rather above the average for the forests of Mindoro, but
there are large areas which should be fully as productive.

A compilation of the quantities of rattan on which forest
charges are paid is made each year by the Bureau of Internal
Revenue. These figures, however, may not represent more than
half the actual output, as they do not include the portion cut

* Whitford, H. N., The forests of the Philippines. Bureau of Forestry
Bulletin No. 10 (1911).

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XII. FRUITS OF CALAMUS USITATUS (MOLLIS) (A RATTAN).

PHILIPPINE PALMS

by the inhabitants of rattan-producing localities for domestic
purposes (this being by law free from forest charges), while a
considerable proportion of that cut for commercial purposes es-
capes the payment of taxes. The annual amount on which forest
charges were paid for a series of years is given in Table I.
Arnold * has written a lengthy discussion of the supply of rat-
tans, from which much of the following data is taken.

Table I. — Amount of rattan on which forest charges were paid from

19 1U to 1918.

Year.

1914
1915
1916
1917
1918

Unsplit rattan.

Split rattan.

Over 2 cm. in
diameter.

2 cm. or less
in diameter.

Kilograms.

Linear meters.

Linear meters

3,316,925

1, 360, 664

9, 054, 343

3, 733, 918

1,041,238

19, 008, 440

3,112,126

1, 884, 679

20, 930, 522

4, 606, 310

2, 824, 473

13, 468, 264

7, 920, 066

3,631,849

10, 066. 058

The returns for each year are given by provinces, and these
figures make it possible to get some idea of the localities from
which the larger amounts of rattan are obtained. Table II,
taken from Arnold, gives the average production for the five
fiscal years 1909 to 1913, inclusive. While the amount of rat-
tan given is much too small, the figures for the more thickly
settled provinces give some idea of the relative amounts avail-
able. This does not apply to Palawan, the Moro Province,
Nueva Vizcaya, or Mindoro, since these provinces are sparsely
inhabited and the cutting is done by uncivilized and partly
unsettled tribes; nor does it apply exactly to other provinces,
as questions of labor organization and transportation have to
be taken into consideration, and especially as the best commer-
cial rattan is in the virgin forest which may not be easily ac-
cessible from the towns. The heaviest production is shown by
the provinces of Ambos Camarines, Sorsogon, Tayabas, Occi-
dental and Oriental Negros, Cagayan, Samar, Mindoro, Albay,
Zambales, Leyte, and La Union.

* Arnold, J. R., Rattan supply of the Philippines. Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce. Special Agents Series
No. 95 (1915), pages 3 to 23.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XIII. FRUITS OF CALAMUS ORNATUS VAR. PHILIPPINENSIS (A RATTAN).

PHILIPPINE PALMS

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DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

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44 PHILIPPINE PALMS

The next to the last column in the table shows what provinces
have an unutilized supply; although, of course, the fact that
rattan is found but not exported in a large proportion of the
municipalities, does not necessarily mean that it is there to be
had in great quantities. Such, however, may be assumed to be
the case with regard to the Moro Province and Nueva Vizcaya
and, to a less extent, with Mindoro, Palawan, Samar, Misamis,
Bataan, Cagayan, Tayabas, and Leyte. In general, it is prob-
able that these latter provinces offer the best fields for commer-
cial exploitation.

As rattan is primarily a plant of virgin forests, the destruc-
tion of the forests practically means the end of the supply.
Moreover, heavy cutting of the rattan will at least temporarily
exhaust the supply in a locality, as has happened in the im-
mediate neighborhood of most of the larger towns. It has not
yet been determined whether it is possible to collect rattan in
the forest on a commercial scale and within reasonable cost,
without cutting it faster than it reproduces itself. Unfortu-
nately there is very little information concerning the rates of
growth of rattans under forest conditions. The supply has
been reduced in many countries where it naturally occurs, to
such an extent as to raise prices considerably. As yet the ef-
fects of indiscriminate cutting in the Philippines have been no
worse than to increase the cost and difficulty of putting rattan
on the market in the more thickly populated areas. It has not
yet become necessary, as in the Malay Peninsula, to consider the
question of cultivation on a large scale. The satisfactory sit-
uation in the Philippines may, however, be due to the fact that
hitherto there has been almost no exploitation for foreign
markets.

UTILIZATION AND EXPORT

Only a very small portion of the comparatively large total
production, indicated by the statements and figures in the fore-
going paragraphs, is at present exported. The total ship-
ment of crude rattan from the Islands for the year ending June
30, 1914, was valued at 8,480 pesos and the manufactured rattan
products, chiefly baskets, at about 1,600 pesos. More than half
of the former amount was collected on the island of Palawan,
shipped to British North Borneo, there mixed with the local
product, and then sent to Singapore and Hongkong ready for
shipment to Europe. A certain portion of the supply which
goes to Hongkong, after being prepared or cleaned, is re-im-
ported into the Philippines for use in furniture manufacture.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Mm*^* '"

i^appiBW | f** ,M *i^"'** * ' ,>>

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DC
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DC

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<
<

X
LJ
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46 PHILIPPINE PALMS

The original exports are made at prices ranging from 4 centavos
to 20 centavos per kilo; while the partially manufactured prod-
ucts are repurchased at from 1 peso to 1.30 pesos per kilo.
The total value of all imports during the year ending June 30,
1914, was 30,730 pesos, or nearly four times the value of the
exports. During the fiscal year 1913 more than one million
dollars worth of rattan was imported into the United States,
while only four hundred dollars worth came directly from the
Philippines. The export business in Palawan is partly con-
ducted by the Palawan Exchange, a government institution for
providing the uncivilized tribes in that island with the means
of disposing of their products on fair terms; and partly by a
few merchants of Puerto Princesa, the capital of the province.
The exports from the other parts of the Islands are insignificant.
Much of the remaining production in the Philippines is used
in or near the localities where it is collected for the many domes-
tic and industrial purposes it serves, and especially in place of
twine or wire for baling hemp, copra, and tobacco. Nearly all
of the comparatively small portion of the total supply which
reaches Manila and the other large centers is brought together
in small quantities by Chinese shopkeepers.

QUALITY AND GRADE

It is widely stated that there are to be had in the Philippines
large quantities of rattan equal in quality to that produced else-
where. The authorities of the Industrial Division of Bilibid
Prison say that the best native product is equal to the best to
be had from Hongkong, and merchants state that American
firms have repeatedly approved samples. Nothing is known
to contradict these statements, except the assertion of the han-
dlers in Singapore that the very finest of all rattans are not to be
had outside of two districts in Dutch Borneo.

Great difficulty is encountered in any attempt to classify the
various grades or to determine the relative plentifulness in the
different localities in which they are found. This is probably
due to a considerable extent to the fact that the various grades
have not been connected with authentically named botanical
specimens. This is not an easy task, as flowering specimens
are rare and commercial canes are, of course, gathered without
flowers, while botanical specimens are usually collected without
canes. An exact classification of the canes seems, therefore,
to be out of the question until an extensive study of them has
been made.

The adoption of a native system of nomenclature or grading

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 47

is impractical. Native collectors and dealers recognize certain
grades of rattan in any given locality and are familiar with
something of their abundance, size, and tensile strength. For
different operations of tying and fastening, different sizes are
obviously needed. Some kinds become brittle when dried and
are therefore useless for tying purposes in constructing houses
and for baling hemp, but may serve perfectly well for binding
fish traps and rafts. On the basis of such points of difference
the people of any given locality distinguish a number of dif-
ferent varieties, usually half a dozen to a dozen, to which they
give distinct names. Just how far these distinctions coincide
with botanical ones is uncertain, but these names vary too
greatly in different localities for them to serve a useful purpose
except very locally.

The situation above described raises the question as to what
practical method of classification recourse may be had. Broadly
speaking, it cannot be said that there is any which could be put
into immediate operation in a way that would be of special
assistance either to an exporter or a purchaser. Until a classi-
fication based on a thorough investigation has been devised, the
only safe plan is to purchase by samples from each important
region.

Apparently the only variety of Philippine rattan distinguished
with any degree of definiteness is that which forms the bulk
of the exports from Palawan and which goes under the name
of sika or sicca. It is perhaps the same or nearly the same as
the high-grade Borneo rattan exported as segah and with which
the Philippine product is probably mixed. Sika is generally
agreed to be the best of the Philippine rattans. It is smooth
and very tough, with a fairly light-yellow color, has small nodes,
and a very uniform diameter averaging about a centimeter.
The authorities of Bilibid Prison have stated that if a steady
supply of this rattan could be secured at reasonable prices they
would use it regularly as fully equal to the cane imported from
Hongkong. Very little is known of the available supply or the
extent of territory from which sika can be secured. Palawan
is one of the most sparsely inhabited and least systematically
exploited islands in the Archipelago. The present supply of
sika is collected almost entirely by the unsupervised labor of
the Tagbanuas and other pagan tribes. It is generally believed
among those who handle the product in Manila that rattan of
approximately this quality, whether under the same or other
names, is only to be had from Palawan. There is, however, no

48 PHILIPPINE PALMS

positive evidence of this, although it is known that the flora of
Palawan is more closely related to that of Borneo than is that
of the more northern islands of the Archipelago. The fact
that at present no rattan of equal grade comes in commercial
quantities to the Manila market from other parts of the islands,
and that most of that sold in Manila is large and inferior, can
scarcely, in view of our present ignorance of the subject and
the unorganized nature of the trade, be regarded as proving
much of anything.

While sika is the only single variety of Philippine rattan that
has been definitely distinguished for commercial purposes, there
is another kind, or rather group or class — for it probably in-
cludes a number of species — which to all appearances meets
the essential specifications for export rattans. This is what
might be called the high-grade mountain rattan and is found
on the spurs and lower ridges of the forested highland portion
of nearly all sections of the Philippines. It probably includes
most of the smaller and less coarse varieties distinguished by
special names in the localities where they are found. Much of
it is cut for ordinary local uses, although in the more thickly
inhabited parts of the Islands the best quality has to be sought
in the less accessible regions. It forms the bulk of the material
used in industrial schools and small factories in Bulacan Prov-
ince for making rattan furniture. It is relatively plentiful and
considerably cheaper than sika. It is generally said to be much
inferior in quality to sika, but the existing data on this subject
are by no means complete, and there is reason to believe that
the better grades are almost, if not quite, as good for ordinary
manufacturing purposes.

The large amount of rattan available in the Philippines does not
imply that a large quantity of high-grade Philippine rattan can
at once be obtained, as no organized industry of any great extent
exists. Most of the rattan cut is sold and used locally. The
lack of a system of classification and of an extensively organized
industry naturally results in great uncertainty as to prices. The
collection of rattan is usually carried on entirely as a side line
during the dry season, either when other local employment is
lacking and a little ready money wanted, or when crops fail
and a living must be had by other means. Under such condi-
tions few men work steadily in gathering rattan and the supply
is necessarily precarious. The holders of rattan licenses issued
by the Bureau of Forestry are mainly the middlemen, a great
majority of whom are Chinese shopkeepers. With them, rattan,

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 49

even when it is not a means of barter, is one of many articles
of trade and they have neither the desire, knowledge, nor fa-
cilities for handling it on a large scale.

From what has been said in preceding pages, it will be seen
that the Philippines offer a promising field for the export of
rattan, but that before success is attained in this direction the
whole industry must be much more highly organized than it is
at the present time. Considerable discussion of the difficulties
and their possible remedies is given by Arnold.*

Conspectus of the species.

a\ Leaves noncirriferous (the rachis not prolonged into a filiform, clawed
or aculeate appendix).
b\ Female flowers and fruits sessile or nearly so; that is, not furnished
with a distinct pedicel derived from the lengthened involucrophore.
c 1 . Leaflets almost equally green on both surfaces.

6} . Leaflets narrow, linear or linear-lanceolate, 1- to 3-costulate.
e x . Spadices shortly flagelliferous, about as long as the leaves;
fruits small, ovoid; seeds with equable albumen.
f. Leaf -sheaths armed with slender straight spines; primary
spathes also spinulous; leaflets very numerous; spathels
of the female spikelets very short, bracteiform. A very
variable plant, of which it is difficult to establish well-
defined varieties, as one merges into the other by inter-
mediate forms 1. C. mollis.

g 1 . Sheathed stem usually 15 to 20 mm in diameter; leaf-
sheaths more or less densely spinous; leaves 50 to 80 cm

long C. mollis (forma typica) .

g 2 . Robust; sheathed stem 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter; leaves

up to 1.2 m long C. mollis var. major.

g 3 . Slender; sheathed stem 12 to 15 mm in diameter; leaf-
sheaths almost spineless C. mollis var. palawanensis.

p. Leaf -sheaths and spathes unarmed; leaflets numerous;
spathels of the female spikelets very short, bracteiform.

2. C. meyenianus.
f. Very slender; leaflets very few and very inequidistant;
spathels of the female spikelets shortly infundibuliform.

3. C. Blancoi.

e\ Spadices (male and female) extremely long, and flagelliform,

considerably longer than the leaves.

f 1 . Leaflets sparingly spinulous on three nerves above, the midrib

alone minutely hairy-spinulous underneath; female spadix

with thickish spikelets drawn together around the main

axis; fruit nearly spherical (13 to 14 by 10 mm), with a

broad, blunt, black beak; seed pitted-ruminate.

4. C. melanorhynchus.

* Arnold, J. R., Rattan supply of the Philippines. Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce. Special Agents Series
No. 95 (1915), pages 3 to 23.

166908 4

50 PHILIPPINE PALMS

f 2 . Leaflets having three slightly bristly nerves on the upper
surface and covered throughout on the lower surface with
numerous fulvous bristles; female spadix with slender, very
spreading spikelets; fruit small, globose-ovoid (11 to 12.5
by 7 mm), with a narrow beak; seed pitted-ruminate.

5. C. filispadix.
f. Leaflets with two bristly lateral nerves and the midrib
smooth on the upper surface, the midrib bristly and the
lateral nerves smooth underneath; spadices very loosely
branched; male spikelets short, comblike; fruit spherical, 15
to 16 mm in diameter; seed very deeply ruminate through-
out 6. C. Diepenhorstii var. exulans.

d 2 . Leaflets lanceolate, 5-costulate; very robust; leaflets large, equi-
distant; fruit large, ellipsoid, 3.5 cm long, 2.3 mm thick; seed

quadrangular 7. C. ornatus var. philippinensis.

c 2 . Leaflets conspicuously discolorous, green above, white underneath;
leaf-sheaths flagellif erous ; spadix flagelliferous at its apex;
primary spathes much lacerated in their upper part.
eF. Leaflets bristly on three nerves above and on the midrib alone

beneath 8. C. discolor.

ef . Leaflets without bristles or nearly so on the upper surface, densely
sprinkled with numerous subspiny bristles beneath.

C. discolor var. negrosensis.
6 2 . Female flowers supported by a distinct pedicel derived from the elonga-
tion of the involucrophore ; leaves of the upper part of the plant
having the apices with gradually diminishing, pluricostulate leaflets,
and the rachis clawed and subcirriferous.
c 1 . Leaflets distinctly grouped, broadly oblanceolate and suddenly apic-
ulate, slightly paler below than above; spikelets branched; fruit

pisiform 9. C. Cumingianus.

c 2 . Leaflets not grouped, lanceolate, gradually acuminate, more or less
covered underneath with a very thin, adherent, ochraceous coating;

spikelets simple, elongate; fruit pisiform 10. C. simphysipus.

a 2 . Leaves having the rachis prolonged into a clawed cirrus.

b 1 . Male and female spadices having the spikelets provided with a very

distinct pedicellar part which is inserted at the bottom of the

spathes.

c 1 . Very robust; leaf-sheaths covered with slender spiculae, the latter

individually distinct or more or less confluent by their broadened

bases; leaflets more or less furnished with long bristles, especially

on the midrib underneath; secondary spathes coriaceous, entire;

fruit spherical, 10 to 12 mm in diameter; secondary spathes

smooth 11. C. Merrillii (forma typica).

<P. Secondary spathes prickly C. Merrillii var. Merrittianus.

d 2 . Secondary spathes smooth or nearly so; a smaller plant and
with slenderer spikelets than in the species, the fruit also

smaller (9 mm in diameter) C. Merrillii var. Nanga.

c 2 . Moderately large; leaf-sheaths very densely covered with blackish
uniform bristles; leaflets with long bristles on three costae on
both surfaces; fruit spherical, 10 to 12 mm in diameter.

12. C. Foxworthyi.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 51

b\ Male and female spadices having sessile spikelets inserted at or
near the mouths of their respective spathes.
c\ Primary spathes elongate and closely sheathing.
d x . Fruit containing three seeds.

e 1 . Robust; leaflets large, subequidistant, lanceolate, long-acum-
inate, plicate-pluricostulate; spikelets thickish, as much as
15 to 16 cm long: fruit spherical, 14 to 17 mm in diameter.

13. C. manillensis.

e 2 . A smaller plant; leaflets broadly lanceolate, shortly acuminate,

subequidistant in the full-grown plant, in pairs on each side

of the rachis in young plants; fruit obovoid, conspicuously

beaked 14. C. trispermus.

d 2 . Fruit 1-seeded.

e\ Leaflets equidistant or nearly so.

f 1 . Leaflets broadly lanceolate, pluricostulate.

g 1 . Two female flowers at every spathel with a neuter one in-
terposed between the two.
h\ Female spadix very dense and with short branches;
spikelets short and with few flowers; female flowers
relatively large, 6 mm long; immature fruits fusiform;

fruiting perianth campanulate 15. C. Arugda.

h 2 . Female spadix very diffusely branched ; spikelets elongate
and with numerous flowers; fruit globose-ovoid; fruit-
ing perianth shortly pedicelliform 16. C. vinosus.

g 2 . One female flower only at each spathel, with a neuter
flower at its side.
h\ Fruit small, pisiform; seed pitted, the albumen equable
or nearly so.
i 1 . Leaflets narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, equally narrowed
at both ends, more or less spinulose on some nerves
above, smooth underneath; fruit 8 to 9 mm in dia-
meter, having squarrose scales in twelve longitud-
inal series 17. C. Moseleyanus.

i 2 . Leaflets lanceolate, acuminate, more or less spinulous
on some nerves above, smooth underneath; fruit 6.5
mm in diameter, having appressed scales in 18 to

20 longitudinal series 18. C. mindorensis.

i s . Leaflets lanceolate, very long-acuminate without bris-
tles or spines on either surface; fruit globose-ovoid,
6 mm in diameter, shortly conical-ovoid, and having
squarrose scales; leaf-sheaths quite unarmed.

19. C. multinervis.

h 2 . Fruit rather large; seed with a deeply ruminated

albumen.

i\ Leaflets large, broadly lanceolate, 40 to 42 cm long,

4 to 4.5 cm wide, pluricostulate and with the nerves

smooth on both surfaces; fruit spherical, 2 cm in

diameter 20. C. grandifolius.

i 2 . Leaflets 5-costulate, elliptic-lanceolate, 22 to 25 cm
long, 30 to 32 mm wide, with the nerves smooth
on both surfaces; fruit ovoid-ellipsoid, conspicuously
beaked, 25 mm long, 18 mm thick.

21. C. Jenningsianus.

52 PHILIPPINE PALMS

f. Leaflets very narrowly lanceolate, 3-costulate; leaflets more
or less bristly-spinulous on three nerves above and smooth
underneath; fructiferous spikelets curved-scorpioid; fruit
spherical, shortly and obtusely beaked, 12 to 13 mm in
diameter; albumen deeply ruminated; leaf-sheaths armed

with scattered spines 22. C. Sa7nian.

e\ Leaflets conspicuously inequidistant.

f\ Leaflets more or less distinctly geminate on each side of the

rachis, 5-pluricostulate, oblong or lanceolate, the leaflets

of each pair parallel, that is, not approximate by their

bases and not divaricating; fruiting perianth pedicelliform,

the fruit itself furnished with a short, pedicelliform or

necklike involucrophore.

g 1 . Robust; leaflets very large, pluricostulate oblong-spathulate

with smooth nerves on both surfaces; 35 to 45 cm long,

6 to 10 cm wide; fruit spherical, 13 mm in diameter;

leaf-sheaths unarmed 23. C. megaphyllus.

g 2 . Rather slender; leaf-sheaths armed with slender spines;
leaflets elliptic-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 15 to 25 cm
long, 3 to 6.5 cm wide, with five slender costae almost

smooth on both surfaces 24. C. Elmerianus.

g s . Slender; leaf-sheaths unarmed; leaflets oblanceolate-
elliptic or oblong-spathulate, 20 to 24 cm long, 5 to 6.5
cm wide, smooth on both surfaces; fruit globose, 9 to

10 mm in diameter 25. C. mitis.

p. Leaflets 5-costulate, those of each pair very approximate
by their bases and divaricate; female spikelets having the
involucrophorum (where known) not the least pedicelli-
form or necklike, but immersed within its spathel.
g 1 . Of medium size; leaf -sheaths strongly spinous; leaflets
elliptic-lanceolate, 22 to 25 cm long, 6 to 6.5 cm wide,
very frequently furnished with one or two rigid spines
on the midrib above near the base, otherwise smooth
on both surfaces; fruiting perianth obconical, almost

spreading 26. C. Reyesianus.

g 2 . Slender; leaf-sheaths smooth or very sparingly spinulous;
leaflets elliptic-lanceolate, 10 to 16 cm long, 2 to 3.5
cm wide, usually furnished with a few erect needlelike
spines on some of the five costae on the upper surface
and on the margins or else entirely smooth; fruiting
perianth almost explanate; fruit spherical, 10 to 11 mm

in diameter 27. C. spinifoliuS'

g*. Leaf-sheaths 2.5 cm in diameter, armed with short spines;
leaflets deep green and smooth when dry, almost equally
shiny on both surfaces, lanceolate-elliptic, quite devoid
of hairs or spinules even at the apex and on the margins,
occasionally furnished above with a robust spinule on
the midrib near the base; male spikelets flattened-
pectinate, with contiguous flowers and very approximate

bracteiform spathels 28. C. viridissimus-

f. Leaflets in distant groups; the latter composed of more than
two leaflets on each side of the rachis; leaf-rachis smooth.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 53

g\ Slender; leaf-rachis smooth above; leaflets in groups
of 2 to 4 on each side of the rachis, lanceolate, very
long-acuminate to a filiform tip, 3- sub 5-costulate, 20
to 30 cm long, 15 to 20 cm wide; female spadix very
diffusely paniculate; spikelets filiform; fruit very small,

spherical, 5 mm in diameter 29. C. microsphaerion.

h 1 . Leaf-sheaths unarmed; leaflets glabrous on both surfaces.

C. microsphaerion (forma typica) .

h 2 . Leaf-sheaths strongly armed with short spines; leaflets

slightly bristly-spinulous on one to three nerves on

the upper surface C. microsphaerion var. spinosior.

g 2 . Rather slender; leaflets in distant groups of 3 to 9 on
each side of the rachis, linear, 1-, sub 3-costulate, smooth
on both surfaces, 20 to 25 cm long, 1 cm wide; female
spadix very diffuse and much branched; spikelets fili-
form; fruiting perianth shortly pedicelliform ; fruit very

small, globose 30. C. ramulosus.

f\ Leaflets very inequidistant, yet not distinctly grouped on
each side of the rachis, the latter strongly prickly above,
at least in its lower portion; leaflets elongate, linear-
lanceolate, rigid, 3-costulate, more or less spinuliferous on
the upper surface, smooth underneath, 30 to 32 cm long,
20 to 25 mm wide; leaf-sheaths about 2 cm in diameter,
armed with scattered, pale, acicular spines; male and
female spadices shorter than the leaves, simply and spread-

ingly branched 31. C. Vidalianus.

c 2 . Primary spathes very loosely sheathing, usually short, and more
or less inflated in their upper part. The species of this group
are difficult to discriminate if the specimens are not with mature
fruits; the male spadices alone do not offer appreciable characters
for specific distinction.
d\ Fruit very small, having convex scales, the latter only slightly
or not at all grooved along the center and with the points not
appressed or subsquarrose.
e 1 . Leaf-sheaths armed with scattered slender spines or almost
smooth; fruiting perianth pedicelliform, terete.
f 1 . Leaf-sheaths armed with scattered slender spines; primary
spathes aculeolate; fruit ovoid or subobovoid, 6 mm long,
3.5 to 4 mm thick, the scales arranged in fifteen longi-
tudinal series 32. C. siphonospathus (forma typica).

f 2 . Leaf -sheaths almost spineless; primary spathes smooth;
fruit with scales arranged in fifteen longitudinal series.

C. siphonospathus var. sublaevis.
p. Fruit with scales in twelve longitudinal series; leaflets with
five bristly nerves on the upper surface.

C. siphonospathus var. oligolepis major.
/*. Smaller; fruit with scales in twelve longitudinal series;
leaflets with three bristly nerves on the upper surface.

C. siphonospathus var. oligolepis minor.

f. Primary spathes aculeolate; fruit with scales in eighteen

longitudinal series C. siphonospathus var. polylepis.

54 PHILIPPINE PALMS

f. Primary spathes very slightly inflated; fruit elongate-ellip.
soid, 10 to 11 mm long (including the perianth), 5 mm
thick; scales in fourteen or fifteen longitudinal series.

C. siphonospathus var. batanensis.

e 2 . Leaf-sheaths very densely armed, at least in their upper part,

with ascending unequal spines.

/*. Leaf-sheaths armed with elongate, ascending, very narrowly

laminar spines; the elongate ligula densely armed with

similar spines; petiole and rachis armed irregularly with

unequal spines; leaflets with rigid bristles on the midrib

alone above, smooth underneath; margins conspicuously

spinulous-ciliate; fruit small, ovoid-ellipsoid, 8 to 9 mm

long, 5 mm thick; fruiting perianth campanulate, sub-

pedicelliform 33. C. dimorphacanthus (forma typica).

g\ Leaf-sheaths armed with unequal long spines, some of
which are very slender and criniform, others laminar;
the very elongate ocrea is also armed with similar
spines; leaflets with rigid bristles on three nerves above
and smooth underneath; margins closely and finely
ciliate-spinulous.

C. dimorphacanthus var. montalb aniens.
g 2 . Leaf-sheaths very densely armed, in their upper part mostly,
with very rigid subcriniform spines; leaflets very rigid,
furnished on the upper surface with distant coarse
bristles on the midrib alone, the lower surface smooth,
margins coarsely spinulous; fruit larger than in the
species, globose, 13 mm long, 10 mm thick; supported
by the short terete pedicelliform perianth.

C. dimorphacanthus var. zambalensis.
ef. Fruit covered by strongly gibbous scales, very deeply grooved
along the center, and with very appressed points.
e 1 . Fruit ovoid or subglobose-ovoid, 8 to 12 mm long, including
the short, terete, supporting perianth, and 5 to 8 mm thick,
obtusely beaked.
f. Leaflets numerous, elongate, 10 to 15 mm wide; leaves with
subequidistant leaflets, at least in their lower part, and
more or less grooved above.

34. C. microcarpus (forma typica).
f. Very slender; leaflets very narrow, not numerous, and very
inequidistant; spadix small..C. microcarpus var. diminutus.
e 2 . Fruit ovoid or subovoid, minutely beaked, 17 mm long, includ-
ing the short, terete, pedicelliform perianth, and 12 mm

through 35. C. halconensis.

c 3 . The primary spathes at first enveloping the partial inflorescences,
then splitting longitudinally and opening flat, becoming laminar
and finally falling in decay; leaflets conspicuously discolorous,
green above and with a chalky coating underneath; fruit small,
ovoid or globose-ovoid, 8 to 9 mm long, including the short,
terete, pedicelliform perianth, and 5 mm thick 36. C. bicolor.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XV. CARYOTA RUMPHIANA (PUGAHAN).

56 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Genus CARYOTA Linnaeus
(Plates XV-XVII)

Species of the genus Caryota, the so-called fish-tail palms,
are decidedly ornamental, and are well characterized by their
bipinnate leaves, their peculiar, inequilateral leaflets, which are
toothed on the upper margins, and by their axillary, pendulous
inflorescences. Some species of Caryota send up shoots from
the base of the trunk, but in the Philippines only a single species
has this characteristic. When the palm reaches full size, it
sends out a flowering shoot from the axil of the uppermost leaf
and then produces successive shoots in the lower axils until the
tree is exhausted and dies. There are five species known from
the Philippines.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Large trees. Stem tall, solitary. Fruit 1- or 2-seeded. Fruiting peri-
anth 10 to 11 mm in diameter. Male flowers large, 15 to 17 mm long,
with numerous stamens.
ft 1 . Leaflets of the full-grown plant long and narrow, having the upper
margin at times very obsoletely, yet at times rather sharply, and
very unequally toothed, and the lower margin much produced into
a taillike point. Male flowers with 40 to 60 stamens. Stem up to

30 to 40 cm in diameter 1. C. Rumphiana var. philippinensis.

b 2 . Leaflets having the upper margin deeply and acutely toothed, the
teeth long, narrow, acuminate, and very close together. Male flowers
with 27 to 30 stamens. A smaller plant than var. philippinensis.

C. Rumphiana var. oxyodonta.
a 2 . Of medium size. Fruit always 1-seeded. Male flowers (where known)
small and with few stamens.
b\ Stem solitary. Male flowers with 6 to 9 stamens only.

c\ Trunk 5 to 8 m high, 10 to 20 cm in diameter. Leaflets erect-
spreading, dimidiate-rhomboidal. Male flowers 6 to 7 mm long,
with 9 stamens. Fruiting perianth 6 to 7 mm in diameter.
Fruit 12 to 17 mm in diameter, spherical. Seed with a chestnut-
brown polished surface. Branches of the spadix strongly hairy-
scurfy 2. C. CumingiL

c 2 . Leaflets very spreading or horizontal, frequently opposite, very
sharply toothed. Male flowers * * *. Fruit spherical, 12 mm
in diameter. Seed nearly spherical, 8 to 9 mm in diameter, with

a black, even, and polished surface 3. C. Merrillii.

c 3 . Leaflets ascending, very narrow and very deeply and sharply toothed.
Male flowers having 6 stamens only. Fruit 11 to 12 mm in dia-
meter. Seed slightly broader than high, 9 mm broad, of a
shiny chestnut-brown color, the surface slightly grooved.

4. C. majestica.

b 2 . Soboliferous or with stems in clusters, about 4 m high and 10 cm in

diameter. Male flowers 8 to 12 mm long, with 12 to 16 stamens.

Fruit 15 to 16 mm in diameter, frequently broader than high.

Fruiting perianth 8.5 to 9 mm in diameter 5. C. mitis.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XVI. INFLORESENCE OF CARYOTA RUMPHIANA (PUGAHAN).

58 PHILIPPINE PALMS

CARYOTA CUM IN Gil Lodd. Pugahan OR FlSH-TAIL PALM.

Local names: Bdhi (Mandaya) ; hdgol (Bikol) ; patikan (Bisaya) ; pugu-
han (Manobo) ; pola (Bagobo) ; pugahan, tagipan (Tagalog).

This palm is widely distributed in the Philippines. It is
usually about 6 meters in height and 20 centimeters in diameter,
with spreading alternate leaves scattered along a considerable
portion of the upper part of the rather slender trunk. A
kind of sago is sometimes secured from this palm by the method
used in obtaining sago from the buri, sugar palm, and the true
sago palm. Caryota is, however, apparently less utilized for
its starch than are the other palms just mentioned. This and
other species of the genus are occasionally used as a source of
tuba or palm wine. It is claimed that this tuba has a rather
unpleasant odor and flavor, for which reason it is gathered
only when the more desirable palms are not available. The
fruits are globose, small in size, and with a single seed. The
pulpy outer covering contains very numerous, stinging, needle-
like crystals or rhaphides. Blanco states that the mature
seeds are sometimes used by the Filipinos as a substitute for
the Areca fruit for chewing. The lower parts of the petiole
furnish a soft, rather flossy fiber similar to that obtained from
the sugar palm {Arenga pinnata). The two fibers are called
by the same name, barok, and are used for the same purposes,
that is, as tinder, for caulking boats, and formerly, according
to Delgado, for stuffing pillows. Splints cut from the petioles
are used in making baskets. This palm, like all other repre-
sentatives of the genus, is very attractive and is quite commonly
cultivated for ornamental purposes. It is possible that some of
our species might be relatively as valuable as the toddy palm of
India (Caryota wrens Linn.) which is extensively used as a
source of starch, tuba, alcohol, and sugar, although none of the
Philippine species are thus utilized to any great extent.

Among the other species of the genus reported from the
Philippines is Caryota mitis Lour., which has recently been found
in Palawan and which is now occasionally cultivated in Manila
for ornamental purposes. This is a slender palm, and the only
representative of the genus in the Philippines which sends up
shoots from the base of the trunk. Caryota rumphiana Mart,
is a magnificent species much larger in every way than Caryota
cumingii, and is planted in Manila for ornamental purposes.
Caryota merrillii Becc. is apparently closely allied to Caryota
cumingii, and Caryota majestica Lodd. to Caryota rumphiana.
The various species do not appear to have specific local names,
but are all designated by names quoted under Caryota cumingii.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

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60 PHILIPPINE PALMS

The buds (ubud) of all the species are edible. The outer
part of the trunk of most of them is split and made into very
durable slat flooring.

Genus COCOS Linnaeus

With the exception of the recently introduced Cocos plumosa
Hook, that is now cultivated to some extent for ornamental
purposes in Manila, this genus is represented in the Philippines
by a single species, the common coconut palm.

COCOS NUCIFERA L. (Plates I, XVIII-XXIII). Coconut palm.

Local names: Coco or cocotero (Spanish); giragara (Zamboanga) ; lobi
or lubi (Pampanga, Bisaya) ; niog or niug (Ibanak, Iloko, Pampanga, Ta-
galog, Bikol, Bisaya) ; ngotngot (Zambales) ; ongot (Cagayan) ; punlaing
(Basilan).

This palm is the most abundant, most universally distributed,
and from an economic standpoint by far the most valuable in
the -Philippines, and for that matter the most important of the
commercial palms of the entire world. It is cultivated in most
parts of the Philippines; and, where favorable conditions are
found, thrives equally well on the seashore and inland up to
altitudes of about 700 meters, and in some regions up to 1,500
meters. The palm can not successfully withstand a long dry
season, such as is found in the region about Manila Bay, Luzon,
but thrives best in those regions where the rainfall is more or
less distributed throughout the entire year, especially on slopes
where moving ground water is constantly available. In the
Archipelago larger areas are devoted to its cultivation than
*in any other similar part of the world.

Cocos Nucifera is not a native of the Archipelago, but was
apparently introduced during the prehistoric period. It is never
found wild in the Philippines.

The coconut palm has a multitude of uses, in number and
importance probably not exceeded by any other palm. It yields
timber; food; fermented and unfermented drinks; alcohol;
vinegar ; thatching material ; splints ; strips and fiber for making
baskets, mats, rope, hats, brushes, brooms, etc.; fuel; caulking
material ; utensils for household use, such as cups, bowls, spoons,
etc.; oil for food, cooking, illumination, for making soap, sub-
stitutes for butter and lard, ointments; and oil cake for
feeding domestic animals and for fertilizer. The bud makes
an excellent salad. The palm is very ornamental and is fre-
quently planted for decorative effect. The fresh leaves are
extensively used for temporary decorations, and large numbers

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XVIII. COCONUT PALM IN FRUIT, MINDANAO.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

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DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

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64 PHILIPPINE PALMS

of prepared young leaves are used for religious purposes on
Palm Sunday. The leaflets are used for wrapping a rice con-
fection known as suman, as described under Corypha elata.
While the most valuable crop in the Philippines is rice, the
coconut and abaka (Manila hemp) compete for second place.

The most important product of the coconut palm is coco-
nut oil, which is obtained by pressing the kernels. Formerly
the dried kernels, known as copra, were exported from the
Philippines, but recently a number of factories have been es-
tablished, and it seems that in the future the oil rather than the
copra will be exported. The pressed cake is valuable as a food
for stock or as a fertilizer. With the present high price of fuel
in the Philippines it has been used to a considerable extent as
fuel. The oil is used extensively for the manufacture of food
products and soap.

The shells of the coconut make a very high grade of charcoal
widely used for gas-masks. In 1918 the United States military
authorities had an extensive organization for securing large
quantities of this charcoal in the Philippines. Locally these
shells have been much used as fuel for drying copra.

In the internal commerce of the Philippines the most im-
portant product of the coconut palm, after the fruit and the
derived products, food, copra, and oil, is the fermented sap or
tuba and the alcohol distilled from it. A large number of
palms are devoted entirely to the tuba industry. The general
method of tapping the coconut palm in the Philippines for the
production of tuba is as follows: The unopened inflorescences
are selected and are bent downward slowly and gradually, this
operation being repeated several times a day for one or two
weeks. The tip of the inflorescence, including the tip of the
spathe and the branches of the inflorescence, is then cut off
with a sharp knife. In general practice the spathe is not re-
moved, and the whole inflorescence may or may not be bound
with string; the wounded end of the inflorescence may or may
not be bruised to stimulate the flow of sap, but usually the cutting
alone is relied upon to produce the flow. When the flow of sap
commences, a bamboo receiver (bamboo joint) is placed in posi-
tion to catch and retain the sap, as with the nipa, buri, and sugar
palms. A thin slice is removed from the wounded end of the
inflorescence twice each day to ensure a continued flow.

The average daily yield of sap from properly managed trees
was found by Gibbs * to be about 1.4 liters, and it is estimated

* Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Vol. 6 (1911), page 157.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXI. COCONUT TREE TAPPED FOR SAP.

66 PHILIPPINE PALMS

that the general annual average per tree under good condi-
tions is about 400 liters. Gibbs says that fresh sap probably
contains about 16.5 per cent sucrose. As with other palm saps,
fermentation commences almost as soon as the sap drips from
the wounded inflorescence. The partly fermented sap, or tuba
as it is locally known, is extensively utilized by the Filipinos
as a beverage. In many parts of the Philippines, an exten-
sive industry has grown up in the fermentation of tuba and
the distillation of its alcohol content, this product being
known in the Philippines as dlak, arah, or bino (the last a
corruption of Spanish "vino"). Some idea of the extent of the
industry may be gained from the fact that in the year 1910 a
total of nearly 700,000 pesos in internal revenue was collected
on alcohol from this source, and the production of coconut-tuba
alcohol presents a steady annual increase.

If acidic fermentation be allowed to follow alcoholic fermen-
tation in coconut tuba, the result will be vinegar, which is
said to be of good quality. Care must be taken, however, to
prevent putrefaction of the sap, to guard against which some
bark rich in tannin is usually added to tuba destined for the
manufacture of vinegar. Coconut-tuba vinegar is manufac-
tured in the Philippines only to a limited extent for local use.

As with the sweet, unfermented saps of the buri, nipa, and
sugar palms, fresh coconut-palm sap can be evaporated to a
syrup or sugar. Sugar, however, is but rarely, if at all, manu-
factured in the Philippines from the coconut-palm sap. In
gathering the sap for this purpose, fermentation must be pre-
vented or inhibited, as in other palm saps.

Locally, large quantities of the nuts are utilized for food and
for extracting oil for domestic purposes. The unripe as well
as the mature fruits are utilized in various ways for food.

Some trees produce abnormal fruits, known as makapuno
(from Tagalog puno = fu\\) . In these the whole interior of
the nut is occupied by a soft, rather firm tissue quite different
in texture from the hard flesh of normal nuts. These abnor-
mal fruits are produced on the same tree with normal ones,
and will not germinate. Only a small percentage of coconut
trees in a given area will produce the makapuno nuts, which
are valued as a delicacy and which command a much higher
price than the normal fruits, often selling at a price ten times
as great as the latter.

A commercial product of the coconut that is but slightly
utilized in the Philippines is the fiber prepared from the husk

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Fig. 1. Coconut palm with inflorescences cut and bound to be inserted in bamboo joint for

collecting tuba.

Fig. 2. Coconut palm with bamboo tube for collecting tuba attached to inflorescence stalk.

PLATE XXII.

68 PHILIPPINE PALMS

or pericarp. This is commercially known as coir. It is va-
riously employed for making bags, mattings, door mats, and
for stuffing cushions, especially carriage cushions. In many
parts of the Indo-Malayan region and Polynesia, coir is an im-
portant source of cordage for local use. One of its chief local
uses is for caulking boats. Coir is also locally used for making
a thatch-like raincoat much used by both Filipino and Chinese
teamsters. There is no record that it enters into the external
commerce of the Archipelago.

The leaves are utilized in various ways in the Philippines.
The leaflets are sometimes used to thatch houses, for making
hats, coarse baskets, mats, etc., but are much less durable for
these purposes than the leaflets of some other palms. The mid-
ribs of the leaflets are commonly used for making coarse brooms
and certain types of baskets and trays. Splints prepared from
the outer part of the leafstalk are used in making baskets.

Genus COELOCOCCUS Wendland
COELOCOCCUS AMICARUM Wendl. POLYNESIAN IVORY-NUT PALM.

The ivory-nut palm is a native of the Caroline Islands, and
was introduced into Guam and the Philippines by the Spaniards.
The flowering shoots grow from the axils of the leaves. The
globose fruits, up to 10 centimeters in diameter, are covered
with closely overlapping, hard, shiny, brownish scales. The
large seeds are very hard, ivory-like in texture and appearance,
and are commercially utilized for making buttons. This spe-
cies apparently occurs as a widely scattered, cultivated palm in
Panay and Zamboanga, in the latter province known as tim-
bungan.

Genus CORYPHA Linnaeus

CORYPHA ELATA Roxb. (Plates XXIV-XXVIII) . BuRf.

Local names: Bagdtai, tdktak (Ibanag, Nueva Vizcaya) ; buli, buri (Ta-
galog, Bisaya, Bikol) ; ebus or ibus (Pampanga, Tarlac) ; piet (Nueva Ecija,
Pangasinan) ; serar (Bagobo) ; silad (Bisaya) ; silag (Iloko, Pangasinan,
Tarlac).

This is the largest and most stately palm to be found in the
Philippines. Its straight trunk attains a diameter of 1 meter
and a height of 20 meters. The species has very large, fan-
shaped leaves which are rounded in outline and up to 3 meters
in length. The outer part is split into about one hundred nar-
row segments. The very stout petioles are from 2 to 3 meters
long and their margins are armed with very hard, rather large,
black teeth. The plant grows 25 to 30 or more years, during
which time large quantities of starch collect in the trunk.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

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PHILIPPINE PALMS

It then flowers once and dies, the enormous quantities of stored
starch being used up during the short flowering and fruiting
period. At maturity the leaves wither and there appears an
enormous, pyramidal, terminal, flowering shoot, which may be
7 meters in height.

From an industrial standpoint the buri palm is one of great
local importance. A fermented drink or palm wine (tuba),
alcohol, vinegar, syrup, and sugar are produced from the sap.
The trunk yields large quantities of food material in the form
of starch. The buds (ubud) are used for salads or as a vegetable.
The kernels of the young fruits are edible and are made into
sweetmeats; while Blanco states that the outer covering of the
mature fruit is eaten by birds and sometimes by children. The
mature seeds are used for beads (rosaries) and buttons. The
wood is practically valueless. The leaf is of special importance.
The petiole yields the so-called buntal fiber of which the famous
Lucban hats are made ; or which, when crudely extracted, is some-
times twisted into rope. The mature leaf is used for covering
tobacco bales, rarely as a thatch for houses, while the ribs are
used for making brooms. From the unopened leaf is obtained a
very fine fiber, corresponding to raffia fiber, which is utilized in
making cloth, fancy articles, and as string. Fibers secured
from the ribs of the unopened leaves are extensively used in the
manufacture of the so-called Calasiao or Pototan hats. Strips
of the unopened leaf are made into hats, mats, bags, sails, bas-
kets, and other articles.

Table III. — Stand of buri palms (Corypha elata) on five blocks, aggregating
Jf585 hectares in the Rio Chico region of Luzon. Data from report
by Ranger Rola.

[Plants per block.]

Number of
block.

Area of
block.

Area
surveyed.

Size of plant.
(Figures represent number of trees

per block).

. ._ .... n

Without trunk.
Height in meters.

With trunk.

17,950

386

4,436

Total
plants
on one

block.

Less than 1.

1 to 2. Morethan2.

721,590 i 3,532,560
38,600 1 203,422
609,950 1,137,834
183,800 904,296
151.152 590,320

Hectare.

1,795
386

1,109
919
376

Hectare.
0.5
1.2
0.5
0.3
0.4

538, 500
32, 810
166, 350
218, 722
151, 152

4, 810, 600

275, 218

1, 918, 570

1, 306, 818

894. 504

Total...

1,880

4,585

2.9

1, 107, 534

1,705,092 6,368,432

24, 652

9,205.710

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXIV. CORYPHA ELATA (BURI) AND TWO SPECIMENS OF CARYOTA

(PUGAHAN).

PHILIPPINE PALMS

Table III. — Stand of buri palms (Corypha elata) etc. — Continued.

[Plants per hectare.]

Number of
block.

Area of
block.

Area

Size of plant.
(Figures representnumber of trees per hectare) .

Total
plants
on one
hectare.

2.680
713
1,730
1,422
2,379

Without trunk.

With trunk.

surveyed.

Hectare.
0.5
1.2
0.5

Height in meters.

Less than 1. 1 to 2.

Morethan2.

Hectare.

1,795
386

1.109
919
376

300
85
150

402
100
550
200
402

1,968
527

1,026
984

1,570

0.3 ! 238
0.4 i 402

5 _

Average

235 1 aai

1,215

1.785

Among Philippine palms, the buri ranks next to the coconut
and nipa palm in economic importance, yet in few parts of the
Archipelago is it fully utilized. It does not supply material of
any special export value except the buntal and Calasiao hats.

This palm is widely distributed in the Philippines at low and
medium altitudes, extending from northern Luzon to southern
Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago. In some re-
gions it appears as a widely scattered palm, and is occasionally
planted. In other regions it is exceedingly abundant, grega-
rious, and locally the dominant species. Mr. Franks * reports
approximately 2,000,000 trees on an area of 5,000 hectares in
Mindoro, of which about 12 per cent were mature. The island
of Burias is said to take its name from this palm. Ranger
Rola has made valuation surveys in a buri forest covering
approximately 5,000 hectares in the Rio Chico region, Pam-
panga Province, Luzon. The surveys were made on five dif-
ferent blocks. The results are given in Table III. These
five blocks covered a total area of 4,585 hectares. They con-
tained 9,205,710 buri palms. Most of the plants were over 2
meters in height but without clear trunks. Of such sizes, there
were 6,368,432 palms on the area. Buri is especially abund-
ant in the provinces of Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tayabas, Cam-
arines, and Sorsogon in Luzon, and in parts of the islands of
Palawan, Mindoro. Panay. Neeros. Masbate. Cebu. Bohol, and
Mindanao.

♦Philippine Craftsman, Volume I (1912), page 194; Philippine Journal
of Science, Sec. A, Volume VI (1911), page 168.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXV. CORYPHA ELATA (BURI) IN FLOWER.

74 PHILIPPINE PALMS

The buntal fiber, derived from the petiole, is especially val-
uable and is extensively used in the manufacture of fine hats
both for local use and for export. The production of buntal
fiber originated in the region about Sariaya, Tayabas Province,
Luzon, while the hats are commonly known in the market as
Lucban hats, being mostly manufactured in the neighboring
town of Lucban. These are the so-called Bangkok hats of the
American trade. Now, however, the production of buntal is
extending to other regions, and buntal hats are being manu-
factured in other towns, sometimes from materials locally
produced, sometimes from fiber purchased in Sariaya or
neighboring towns. Technical Bulletin No. 3 of the Philippine
Bureau of Education * gives minute directions for the produc-
tion of the fiber, for the problem of buntal production is not
only one of method of extraction, but also of proper selection
of petioles. Buntal is extracted from the petioles of young or
immature palms, and apparently the fiber is best obtained
from those plants having considerable sap flow. Buntal fiber
commands a price of about 4.00 pesos per kilo, which in a
country like the Philippines indicates that the cost of extraction
is great and that the yield of fiber of the proper length and
quality is small.

The material prepared from the unopened leaf of the buri
palm is of great local significance; buri strips, which are pre-
pared from the young leaf, being perhaps most important. The
coarser strips are used in weaving sacks, coarse mats, and sails,
which are sometimes of considerable size; the finer, better
prepared ones in manufacturing various grades of hats, mats,
and baskets. Hundreds of thousands of sugar sacks made from
buri strips and known as bayones, annually convey practically
all the sugar exported from the Philippines.

In some towns the manufacture of buri-strip hats for export
is an important local industry. These hats are chiefly of low
grade and cheap. Buri-strip mat making is an extensive in-
dustry wherever the palm grows. The coarse mats serve for
packing and baling various materials for export. The finer
ones, as the finer hats, are always made from bleached strips.
Frequently the strips are dyed different colors and combined
to produce various geometric figures.

The unopened leaves are important for another reason. They
produce the so-called buri raffia, variously known in the Phil-

* Philippine Craftsman, Volume III (1914), page 45.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

<
<

X
Q.
>-
DC
O
O

76 PHILIPPINE PALMS

ippines as sagitran, daet, banlo, bayokbok, and hubuk fiber.
This fiber is stripped from the outer part of the petiole. The
material from the upper surface is stronger than that from
the lower, but not so fine in texture. The stripping must be
done not only from young, unopened leaves, but also within a
short time after the leaves are removed from the palm. This
fiber is the same as the agel fiber of the Dutch East Indies, that
is quite extensively produced in southern Celebes and there com-
mands a price of from 4 to 8 guilders per picul. It is much
used there for making fine matting.* This material is now
quite widely employed in the industrial work of the Philippine
schools for all purposes for which true raffia fiber is used.
Comparative tensile-strength tests, made by Saleeby f on raffia
fiber from Madagascar and the Philippine product of Corypha
elata, showed that the true raffia was about 30 per cent stronger
than the buri product, but that the latter was superior in color,
fineness and lustre. This material was formerly used in many
parts of the Philippines for weaving cloth. The cloth varies
greatly in fineness, is not especially durable, yet in some parts
of the Islands is still used for clothing. The material readily
takes colors and is excellent for making cushion covers, screens,
bags, coiled baskets, etc.

From the ribs of the unopened leaves important fibers are
secured that are used for the manufacture of the Calasiao or
Pototan hats; so called from the two towns where this type
of hat originated, Calasiao in Pangasinan Province, Luzon, and
Pototan in Panay. The ribs are removed from the leaf, graded
as to color, split, the softer interior removed, and the halves
again split once or twice. The strands thus produced are
smoothed, worked down to the required thickness, and are then
ready for weaving. Hats made of this material have a well-
deserved reputation for appearance and durability. Fine bas-
kets, trays, cigarette cases, etc., are also manufactured from
this material. Sometimes the entire ribs are used for making
coarse brooms.

In many parts of the Philippines the leafstalks are gathered,
thoroughly pounded or crushed, and the vascular strands re-
moved for the purpose of manufacturing cordage. The fibers

* See Heyne, De Nuttige Planten van Nederlandsch-Indie, Volume I
(1913), page 41.

t Philippine Agricultural Review, Volume 6 (1913), page 192; Philip-
pine Craftsman, Volume 2 (1913), page 422.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Fig. 1. Outer and inner halves of one Calasiao hat.

Fig. 2. Completed buri-midrib (Calasiao) hat.
PLATE XXVII.

78 PHILIPPINE PALMS

are twisted into a rope which is extensively used in some parts
of the Philippines, notably in Panay.

Strips made from the leaves are used for wrapping a con-
fection of glutinous rice, known as suman. The strips' are
wrapped in a spiral form around the confection to form a
sausage-shaped package. Whole leaves are regularly brought
for this purpose to Manila, where suman making is an estab-
lished industry. In the provinces it is merely a domestic affair.

For a discussion of the various buri fibers and their products
see the following:

Miller, H. H., Philippine Hats, Philippine Bureau of Educa-
tion Bulletin 33, (1910), pages 1 to 60; Robinson, C. B., Phil-
ippine Hats, Philippine Journal of Science, Section C, Volume
6 (1911), pages 93 to 131; Muller, T., Industrial Fiber Plants
of the Philippines, Bureau of Education Bulletin 49, (1913),
pages 73 to 85 ; Gibbs, H. D., The Alcohol Industry in the Phil-
ippine Islands, Part I, Philippine Journal of Science, Section
A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 147 to 206; Miller, H. H. and others,
Philippine Mats, Philippine Craftsman, Volume I (1912), pages
194 to 203; Parker, L., Philippine Craftsman, Volume 2 (1913),
pages 376 to 395.

At present, the production of sugar, alcohol, and starch from
the buri palm is only of minor local importance and gives little
promise of future development into industries of great mag-
nitude. The subject has been extensively investigated by
Gibbs * with the following general results.

The sap is obtained from the buri palm in two ways. Ap-
parently the more usual way is to cut an inflorescence near its
base, protecting the cut surface from the sun and rain by a
small covering of leaves, and collecting the sap which flows
from the cut surface, in small earthen jars. The second method,
used in Tayabas and some other provinces, but not known
to a great many localities, is employed on trees which have not
flowered and which may, indeed, be very far from maturity.
The trees are stripped of leaves, the top bound with bamboo
hoops 8 to 10 centimeters apart for a distance of about 1 meter,
and then cut off so that the heart of the tree is exposed. The
surface thus produced is cut and channeled, furnishing a clean
tissue which is continually exposed to the air, but protected
from the sun by a covering of leaf thatch. In three or four

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I.
Philippine Journal of Science, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Fig. 1. Buntal (Lukban).

Fig. 2. Buntal (Baliuag).

Fig. 3. Calasiao. Fig. 4. Buri leaf.

PLATE XXVIII. PORTIONS OF PHILIPPINE HATS MAGNIFIED FOUR DIAMETERS.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

days, sometimes one, the sap begins to flow steadily and rapidly.
In either case, the tree can of course be tapped but once, and
death ensues in a short time. Gibbs observed two trees tapped
by the first method. In one case the flow continued for four
and one-half and in the other for three and one-half months.
An old tree, tapped according to the second method, gave a
flow for 132 days. This tree produced a total of 2,699.65 liters
of sap or an average daily flow of 20.45 liters. The maximum
flow recorded from this tree per day was 45.2 liters. Another
tree, about 12 years old, produced sap for 55 days. Fresh cuts
should be made at frequent intervals, as the rate of flow may
be thus temporarily increased as much as 50 per cent. The
rate also varies according to the thickness of the slice removed ;
at least, if the exudation is from the top of the trunk. Gibbs
found that a daily decreasing rate of flow could be changed to

Table IV. — Sugar in total sap flow of the buri palm (Corypha elata) .

Tree
num-
ber.

1.
2
3

Method of tapping.

Inflorescence cut
Infloresceuce cut
Stem cut

Esti-
mated
age of

tree.

Esti-
mated
daily
flow.

Approx-
imate
sugar

content.

Daily
sugar
yield.

Duration
of sap
flow.

Total
sugar
yield.

Kilos.

Years.

Liters.

Per cent.

Kilos.

Days.

2.8

100

280

2.4

135

324

3.6

180

an increasing one by augmenting the thickness of the cuttings.
Table IV gives data on the sugar content and yield of sap from
three palms.

The fresh sap is too sweet to be palatable as a beverage, but
makes a popular cider when fermented.

As it flows from the tree and for a short time after, the sap
is colorless, odorless, and neutral or slightly alkaline. After
standing, a viscous, followed by a putrid, fermentation deve-
lops when no precaution is taken to prevent it. The sucrose
begins to invert in a few hours and the process is complete in
about thirty hours. A comparatively small yield of alcohol re-
sults from the spontaneous fermentation of the sap; a greater
portion of the reducing sugars being changed by the viscous,
putrid, and other fermentations than by the alcoholic.

Sugar is made from the buri sap, which is boiled in ordinary
kettles and sold as a confection. The boiling requires about six
hours, after which the kettle is removed from the fire and the
contents stirred until the sugar granulates. It is then ladled

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 81

out and molded. This is usually done either in coconut shells
or small square boxes made from buri leaves. Gibbs reports
that sugar of excellent quality, polarizing at 94° to 98°, has been
produced in the laboratory of the Bureau of Science by boiling
the sap, preserved with lime, in open pans. Although the sap
contains a high percentage of sugar and the yield per tree is
considerable, Gibbs was not of the opinion that buri sap alone
could be successfully employed as a commercial source of sugar.
He says, however, that when a large stand of buri occurs in
the proximity of a sugar mill it seems entirely feasible to use
the sap in connection with sugar-cane juice.

Filipinos make starch from the trunk of the buri. The entire
pithy portion of the trunk is cut into strips, dried, and then
pounded to separate the starch from the fiber. The fine dust
thus obtained is washed in cold water; the starch settles out
in the usual way, and is dried. Bacon * obtained a yield of
6 per cent of starch, and on this basis he calculated that from
an averaged-sized tree about a hundred kilos of starch could
be obtained. The starch is in large grains. According to Ba-
con, it does not wash white, but always has a decidedly red hue.
In view of this fact and of the difficulty in extracting it, he
did not think that the buri palm could be utilized commercially
for starch.

Genus DAEMONOROPS Blume (Plate XXIX).

The species of Daemonorops, like those of Calamus, are
slender, climbing palms (rattans) having the same sylvan hab-
itat, growth-form, general adaptations for climbing, and uses.
As a rule, however, the rattan yielded by Daemonorops is de-
cidedly inferior to that of Calamus. Daemonorops has by some
authors been reduced to Calamus, and there is no single char-
acter that will always distinguish the two genera. However,
they can usually be separated by the following characters: In
Daemonorops the leaf sheaths never produce long whip-like
structures ; in Calamus they often do. In the former the ocrea
is very short, in the latter often greatly developed; in the for-
mer the upper leaves are always supplied with a whip-like
structure, in the latter the flagellum may or may not be present.
In Daemonorops the spathes are never armed with claws and
the panicle is short, while in Calamus the lower parts of the
spathes are so armed and the spadices are usually greatly
elongated.

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I.
Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206.

166908 6

82 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Cymbospatha. Spadix, S and $, contracted. Primary spathes cymbi-
form, beaked, the outermost completely inclosing the inner ones.

1. D. Margaritae var. palawanicus.

a 2 . Piptospatha. Spadix, d and $, elongated. Inner primary spathes

gradually longer than the outermost.

b\ Leaflets very inequidistant, ensiform, the largest 40 to 50 cm long,

2.5 to 3 cm wide; fruit ovoid-ellipsoidal, 25 mm long, 16 to 17 mm

thick, very shortly pedicellate 2. D. virescens.

b 2 . Leaflets equidistant.

c 1 . The mouths of the leaf-sheaths unarmed.
d\ Leaflets lanceolate-ensiform, the largest 30 to 45 cm long, 3 to
3.5 cm wide, the midrib only sparsely bristly below, smooth
above or else minutely spinulous near the apex; fruit spherical,

mammillate-beaked, 18 to 20 mm in diameter 3. D. ochrolepis.

o?. Leaflets less than 3 cm wide, bristly on three to five nerves above.
e\ Leaflets 30 cm long, 15 to 16 mm wide (the largest), bristly
on three nerves above, and on the midrib only underneath;
the axis of the spadix and spikelets coated with a rusty-
brown scurf; fruit carried on a pedicel 8 to 10 mm long,
globose-ovoid, obtusely mammillate-beaked.

4. D. urdanetanus.

e 2 . Leaflets very narrowly lanceolate, 20 to 23 cm long, 14 to 18

mm wide (the largest), bristly on three nerves above, and

with a few long bristles on the midrib only underneath.

Male flowers very long and slender (12 mm long).

5. D. Loherianus.

e\ Leaflets 30 cm long, 15 to 20 mm wide (the largest), bristly

on five nerves above, but only on the midrib beneath, fruit

12 to 17 mm long, 9 to 11 mm through, ovoid-ellipsoid, carried

on a pedicel 4 to 6 mm long 6. D. pedicellaris.

d\ Leaflets less than 3 cm wide, having the midrib alone spinulous,

on only one or on both surfaces.

e 1 . Leaflets 30 to 32 cm long, 2 to 2.5 cm wide (the largest),

having the midrib alone spinulous on both surfaces; axis of

the spadix and spikelets densely coated with a copious brown

felt; fruit ovoid-ellipsoid, blunt-mammillate, carried on a

thick, 5 to 6 mm long pedicel 7. D. pannosus.

e\ Leaflets 30 to 40 cm long, 2 to 2.5 cm wide (the largest),
smooth or nearly so on the upper surface, underneath the
midrib alone remotely spinulous; axial parts of the spadix and
spikelets coated with adherent rusty-brown scurf; fruit
globose and obtusely mammillate, 17 to 18 mm in diameter,
with a few well-conformed scales, and carried on a pedicel

10 to 12 mm long 8. D. oligolepis.

c 2 . The mouths of the leaf-sheaths armed with erect spines, longer

than those on the body.

d 1 . Fruit large, over 2 cm in diameter; leaflets narrowly ensiform,

40 to 42 cm long, 13 to 15 mm broad (the largest), spinulous

on three nerves above and bristly on the midrib alone beneath;

fruit spherical, 20 to 24 mm in diameter.... 9. D. Clemensianus.

d\ Fruit less than 2 cm in diameter.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXIX. DAEMONOROPS MOLLIS (GAUDICHAUDII) (A RATTAN).

84 PHILIPPINE PALMS

e\ Leaflets linear-ensiform, 35 to 45 cm long, 16 to 24 mm broad
(the largest), with three bristly nerves on the upper suriace,
underneath the midrib alone or, occasionally, also three nerves
bristly; partial inflorescences and spikelets spreading; fruit
globose, mammillate-beaked, often slightly depressed, 15 to
18 mm in diameter 10. <D. Gaudichandii

e 2 . Leaflets narrowly ensiform, 55 to 60 cm long, 20 to 22 mm
broad (the largest), almost smooth above and with only a
few short bristles on the midrib underneath; partial in-
florescences and spikelets inserted at a very acute angle;
fruit globose, conically beaked, 12 mm in diameter.

11. D. affinis.

e\ Leaflets lanceolate-ensiform, 33 to 40 cm long, 17 to 20 mm
broad, bristly on three to five nerves on the upper surface
and on the midrib alone underneath; spikelets spreading;
fruit globular or shortly ovoid, minutely beaked, 12 mm
in diameter 12. D. Curranii

e\ Leaflets linear-lanceolate, 25 to 28 cm long, 12 to 14 mm broad
(the largest), sparingly spinulous on three nerves above
and underneath with only a few bristles on the midrib from
the middle upward; fruit small, broadly ovoid-ellipsoid, 12
mm long, 9 mm thick. A slender plant, sheathed stem 12 to
15 mm in diameter 13. D. gracilis.

Genus ELAEIS Jacquin

ELAEIS GUINEENSIS Jacq. (Plates XXX, XXXI). Oil palm

The oil palm, which was introduced into the Philippines some
time after the middle of the last century, is grown in Manila
and in some of the other larger towns merely for ornamental
purposes. It flowers and fruits abundantly in the Philippines,
but no part of the palm is utilized by the Filipinos. It is of
immense value in tropical West Africa, its original home, and
large quantities of oil and kernels are annually sent to Europe.
Hubert * states that the annual export of oil and kernels from
tropical Africa exceeds in value 40,000,000 dollars. In various
parts of Africa, palm wine, corresponding to our tuba from the
coconut, nipa, buri, etc., is extracted, either by making incisions
in the upper part of the trunks of standing trees; by making
small incisions just below the insertion of the fruiting peduncle,
or by felling the tree. The yield per tree by the first method
varies from 50 to 200 liters; by the other it is said not to ex-
ceed 26 gallons. The buds, like those of many different kinds of
palms, are edible.

Genus HETEROSPATHE Scheffer

This genus is represented by four species all similar in ap
pearance and apparently for the most part closely allied. The

* Hubert, P., Le Palmier a huile, Volume 9 (1911), pages 1 to 314.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

86 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Philippine species are Heterospathe philippinensis Becc, H.
negrosensis Becc, H. sibuyanensis Becc, and the extra-Phil-
ippine H. elata Scheff. The genus is relatively unimportant
from an economic standpoint and a consideration of the most
common and widely distributed species will suffice.

Conspectus of the species.
a 1 . Large trees.

b\ A tree 8 to 10 m high. Leaflets with strong secondary nerves, the
midrib without paleolae underneath. Spadix three times branched,
floriferous branches slender. Fruit globular, 7 to 7.5 mm in diam-
eter, excentrically apiculate, the surface granulose from short

scattered sclerosomes. Seed spherical 1. H. elata.

b 2 . A tree as much as 9 m high, 12 cm in diameter. Leaflets having
rather distinct secondary nerves, and the midrib furnished under-
neath with conspicuous brown paleolae. Spadix three times
branched; floriferous branches thickish (2.5 mm thick). Fruit
ovoid, 1 cm long, 7 mm thick, having the point conical and slightly
oblique and the surface shagreened by linear sclerosomes. Seed

globose-ovoid, blunt 2. H. sibuyanensis.

<x\ Shrubs or small trees.

6 1 . Stem slender, 1 to 3 m high, 2 to 3 cm in diameter. The largest
leaflets 25 to 30 cm long, 10 to 15 mm broad, secondary nerves faint.
Spadix twice branched in its basal part, simply branched above.
Fruit ovoid, 10 to 11 mm long, 6 mm thick, very suddenly, and
nearly centrally, apiculate, the surface closely shagreened by con-
spicuous, shortly fusiform sclerosomes. Seed globose-ovoid, blunt.

3. H. philippinensis.
b 2 . More robust than the preceding, 3 to 5 m high. Stem 4 to 5 cm
in diameter. Leaflets 35 to 40 cm long, 2 to 2.5 cm wide, the
secondary nerves rather distinct. Spadix twice branched. Fruit
ovoid-ellipsoid, narrowing above to a conical, nearly symmetrical
point, 9 to 11 mm long, 5 mm thick. Seed ovoid, acute.

4. H. negrosensis.

HETEROSPATHE ELATA Scheff. (Plate XXXII). SAGISI

Local names: Dayumaka (Cagayan) ; sagisi, segisi (Bisaya) ; salaniog
(Bagobo) ; tagise (Bikol).

This is a tall, slender palm with pinnate leaves 3.5 to 4 meters
in length, and long, pendulous, branching, axillary fruit stalks
with numerous, small, globose fruits. The palm is widely dis-
tributed in the Philippines from Luzon to Mindanao. In the
Bisaya islands it is not uncommonly planted about houses, either
for ornamental or economic purposes. The small hard seeds
are said sometimes to be chewed as a substitute for the Areca
seed. The buds of this, and apparently of all the species of the
genus, are edible. From the petioles, splints are secured for
use in making baskets. In Bohol the leaflets are extensively
used in the manufacture of the sun-hats known as salokots.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXXI. FRUIT OF ELAEIS GUINEENSIS (OIL PALM).

88 PHILIPPINE PALMS

The palm is decidedly ornamental and is worthy of more ex-
tended cultivation for this reason.

Heterospathe negrosensis is known in Visayan as saliiai and
Heterospathe sibuyanensis as bilis.

Genus KORTHALSIA Blume

This genus is represented in the Philippines by four known
species. It is closely allied to Calamus and Daemonorops, but
is readily distinguishable by its inflorescence and its broad,
wedge-shaped leaflets which are usually whitish beneath. Like
Calamus and Daemonorops, our species of Korthalsia are climb-
ing palms. They are invariably sylvan. The stems are of in-
definite length and of the same diameter throughout. These
palms are of some biological interest from the fact that the
more or less inflated sheaths are always inhabited by colonies
of ants. In general the stems of Korthalsia may be used for
the same purposes as those of Daemonorops and Calamus, but
no special use is recorded for any of the Philippine forms.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Spikes amentiform with very closely crowded flowers and appressed
spathels.
ft 1 . Leaf-sheaths produced at the base of the petioles into an inflated
elongate-elliptic ocrea; leaflets more or less nearly white under-
neath 1. K. scaphigeroides.

b 2 . Leaf-sheaths produced at the bases of the petioles into a closely
sheathing, densely spinous ocrea.
c\ Slender; leaflets of the upper part of the fertile plant small,
rhomboidal, green on both surfaces or slightly paler beneath

than above 2. K. MerrilUL

c 2 . Robust; leaflets large, cuneate-rhomboidal or trapezoidal, sharply

double-toothed, paler beneath than above 3. K. laciniosa.

a 2 . Spikes of squarrose appearance, the spathes scarious and not appressed;
leaves furnished with an elongate, cornet-shaped ocrea which is
truncate at the apex; leaflets cuneately rhomboidal, white under-
neath 4. K. squarrosa.

Genus LICUALA Thunberg

LICUALA SPINOSA Wurmb. (Plate XXXIII). Balatbat.

Local names: Balatbdt (Bisaya) ; ugsdng (Balabac, Palawan, Moro).

This is the only representative of the genus found in the
Philippines and no special economic uses are recorded for it.
It is found near the sea in Palawan and in the Calamianes Is-
lands, sometimes growing immediately back of the mangrove and
within the influence of salt water, sometimes on banks and in
ravines near the sea. The palm is of small size, has fan-shaped
leaves, and is decidedly ornamental. It is now being grown
considerably in Manila for ornamental purposes.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

#' f ;, ^J

v f

x i

Mm \ *

* ' ^M

^r j, |i

d/- r *mm

[Ljpr^«j» *m

I'-iy

~ : y^l tllL* J&Pf

I *rafej^B

k ^vS&iw

HB i

HhiH^EBp

JHH

XHSMOo^^^B

^S^J^9^^^^.

S^HH

PLATE XXXII. HETEROSPATHE ELATA (SAGISI).

90 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Genus LIVISTONA Linnaeus

All of our palms of this genus are tall, graceful species, with
fan-shaped leaves; pendulous, axillary inflorescences; rather
small, globose fruits, and decidedly hard wood. Several of the
species are cultivated for ornamental purposes.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Leaves irregularly parted into primary 2- to 6-costulate segments;
secondary segments 1-costulate, very deeply parted into two very long
flaccid laciniae. Petiole armed, especially in its lower portion, with
very robust spines. Flowers sessile and in small groups on the
branchlets. Fruit globose or very slightly reniform, bluish even when

dry, 11 to 15 mm in diameter 1. L. cochinchinensis.

a 2 . Leaves entire in their central part, and with the periphery more or
less deeply divided into always unicostulate segments. Flowers soli-
tary, spirally inserted around the branchlets.
ft 1 . Flowers relatively large, 4 to 4.5 mm long. Leaves of adult plants
having unarmed or, at times, slightly spinose petioles. The dry
mature fruit spherical, 22 to 23 mm in diameter, with a very dark
brown polished surface. The young fruits are slightly oblong and

narrow a little toward the base 2. L. Merrillii.

b\ Flowers very small, at most 2 mm in diameter.

c 1 . Petioles of the adult plant spinose in their basal part, unarmed
elsewhere. Spadix composed of three main inflorescences, free
from their bases and all issuing from a common flattened spathe;
upper spathes very tightly sheathing throughout, truncate at the
mouth, and, as are all the other parts of the spadix, reddish-brown
when dry. Fruit spherical even when young, dark-violaceous

when fresh, quite black when dry 3. L. rotundifolia.

Forma typica (not yet found growing in the Philippines) is

especially characterized by the seed having the intrusion of the

raphe penetrating only two-thirds of the albumen.

d\ Fruit 2 cm in diameter. Seed traversed completely from base to

apex by the intrusion of the raphe. Leaves of very young

plants having the petioles armed, in their basal part, with

conspicuous spines, as much as 15 to 20 mm in length, the

leaves of adult plants with the central segments shortly bifid.

L. rotundifolia Mart. var. luzonensis.

d 2 . Fruit 12 to 15 mm in diameter, the kernel alone 10 to 13 mm in

diameter. Seed 8 to 10 mm in diameter, more or less traversed

by the intrusion of the raphe. Central segments of the adult

leaves shortly bifid at their apices.

L. rotundifolia var. microcarpa.
d 3 . Fruit of medium size. Central segments of the adult leaves
parted into two 15 to 20 cm long laciniae.

L. rotundifolia var. mindorensis.

c 2 . Petioles of leaves in the adult plant unarmed, at least in their

upper part; in young plants armed with very small spines.

The mature fruit yellowish orange when fresh, yellowish brown

when dry. Spathes straw-colored, slashed at the mouth.

4. L. Robinsoniana.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXXIII. LICUALA SPINOSA (BALATBAT).

92 PHILIPPINE PALMS

LIVISTONA COCHINCHINENSIS Becc. (Plate XXXV). Tarau.

Livistona cochinchinensis is a palm reaching a height of about
20 meters and a diameter of about 20 centimeters. This species
grows gregariously in large numbers in open places in the Ca-
gayan valley. The trunks and leaves are employed for much
the same purposes as are those of Livistona rotundi folia.

The leaves are used for making a peculiar type of broom.
The young leaves, while still closed, are cut off with the whole
petiole attached. The thin part of the blade is then removed,
leaving the ribs attached to the petiole. Six or eight of these
leaves are then tied together, making a long-fibered, very flexible
broom, about 1.5 meters long.

LIVISTONA ROTUNDIFOLIA (Lam.) Mart. (Plate XXXVI). Anahau.

Local names: Abidng (Pampanga, Pangasinan) ; andu (Cagayan, Isa-
bela) ; andau (Ilocos Norte and Sur) ; andhau (Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Ta-
yabas, Camarines, Albay, Sorsogon) ; bagsdng (Samar) ; bdhi (Samar,
Leyte, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Cebu, Occidental and Oriental Negros, Bohol) ;
baldk (Moro) ; balld (Bagobo) ; balldng (Cagayan) ; bulno (Bicol) ; labig
(Ilocos Norte and Sur, Pampanga) ; luyong, (Zambales) ; palma brava
(Spanish-Filipino) ; pilig (Tagalog) ; sardu, tardu (Cagayan) ; tikal (Ta-
galog) ; tikis (Zambales).

This species is widely distributed, but grows naturally only
in the forested areas, and is of somewhat local occurrence in
the Archipelago. It is sometimes planted for ornamental pur-
poses. The trunks, which are about 20 centimeters in diam-
eter, are frequently used for pillars in houses, as they take
a beautiful finish, and last well when not exposed to dampness.
The outer hard part of the trunk is sometimes removed in the
form of strips and used for floors of houses. These strips
supply the Negritos with the wood for their bows. Anahau
wood is often used also for spear shafts. The wood is hard,
takes a high polish, and is considerably utilized in the Philip-
pines for canes or walking sticks. The buds are edible and
rather highly esteemed as a vegetable, but as with the other
palms, the removal of the bud means the death of the plant.
The leaves are frequently used for thatching houses, being laid
on much like shingles and sewed in place with strips of rattan;
or separated into strips and made into shingles like those of
the nipa palm. According to Delgado, the entire leaves were
formerly sewed together and made into sails for boats. A kind
of raincoat, made of several leaves of this palm sewed together,
is commonly used in many parts of the Philippines; while a
very broad and shallow sun-hat, popular in many provinces,
consists of a frame of bamboo or rattan covered with Livistona
leaves. The fruits are eaten by various animals and by birds,

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXXIV. LIVISTONA SP. (ANAHAU) IN A CLEARING.

PHILIPPINE PALMS

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXXVI. LIVISTONA ROTUNDIFOLIA (ANAHAU).

96 PHILIPPINE PALMS

and sometimes by children. Young plants of this and allied
species are very frequently cultivated in pots or tubs in Manila
and other large towns for ornamental purposes. In other coun-
tries the leaves of Livistona are used for making fans.

The statements made above regarding Livistona rotundifolia
will apply to most or all of our Philippine forms.

Genus METROXYLON Rottboell

Only a single species of this genus is definitely known from
the Philippines, and this has been identified as Metroxylon sagu
Rottb. (M. rumphii Mart.). At least two forms occur, the
spiny and the spineless ones.

METROXYLON SAGU Rottb. (Plate XXXVII). Lumbia or Sago PALM.
Local names: Ambolong, ambulong, bagsdng, langddng, lumbal, lumbia,
lumbidg, sagu (Bisaya) ; lumbia (Bagobo).

This palm has pinnate leaves 6 to 9 meters long. The stems
are very thick and grow in clumps. It is widely distributed
in the central and southern Philippines, but in many regions
is only planted, this probably being true of all parts of the
Bisaya islands, north of Mindanao. It has been reported from
Cebu, Negros, Panay, Bohol, Siquijor, and from many parts
of Mindanao. It grows in valleys and along streams, and is
especially abundant in the extensive fresh-water swamps of the
Agusan valley in Mindanao.

Most of the sago of commerce is produced from this tree.
While sago is produced in the Philippines for local use, it does
not enter into the external commerce of the Archipelago; in
fact a considerable amount of sago is annually imported. Ac-
cording to data given by Heyne the annual export of sago from
the Dutch East Indies is at least 15,000 tons.* Sago is one
of the important exports from Sarawak.

In the Philippines, sago is extracted by the crudest methods.
The tree is felled, and the crushed or macerated pith is washed
in troughs; the starch, which is carried in suspension in the
water, being then allowed to settle. After several washings
the starch is dried and stored for use. Sometimes the pith is
cut into strips and dried, the dried strips pulverized in mortars,
and then washed as needed. Delgado states that occasionally
the fresh pith is toasted and eaten although it is somewhat
bitter. The buds are edible. Delgado f says that tuba is
sometimes secured from this palm, but this practice, described
by him in 1753, is apparently very rare, or perhaps obsolete.

* De Nuttige Planten van Nederlandsch Indie. Volume 1 (1913), page 61.
t Delgado, J. J., Historia General de Filipinas, pages 66 and 667.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

PLATE XXXVII. METROXYLON SAGU (SAGO PALM).

98 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Sometimes the leaves are used to thatch houses, for which pur-
pose they are said to be very durable; while the external parts
of the trunk are employed for floors and rafters. In some
parts of the Malay Archipelago, the leaflets are split into strips
and extensively used for making mats. Parts of the petioles,
and the midribs of the leaflets, are variously utilized for weaving
mats and baskets; a utilization which has not been recorded
from the Philippines.

This palm is usually propagated by suckers that are produced
in abundance about the base of the trunk, but it can also be
readily grown from seeds.

Genus NIPA Wurmb.

This genus contains only a single species.

NIPA FRUTICANS Wurmb. (Plates XXXVIII-XLI) . NfPA.

Local names: Anipa (Cagayan) ; lasd (Bulacan, Bataan, Rizal, Laguna,
Cavite, Tayabas) ; nipa (Camarines, Albay, Sorsogon, Antique, Spanish-
Filipino) ; saga (Zambales) ; sasd (Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Rizal,
Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Tayabas, Mindoro) ; tatd (Cagayan).

From an economic standpoint this palm is one of the most im-
portant in the Philippines. It is at once distinguished from
all others in the Islands by its habit and habitat. It occurs
along tidal streams throughout the Archipelago and is of special
interest from the fact that it thrives only in brackish swamps.
Nipa has a stout, creeping, subterranean stem or rhizome. The
leaves are pinnate, 7 meters or more in length and occur in
erect clusters. It frequently forms a dense mass of vegeta-
tion through which it is very difficult to penetrate.

Nipa is usually found further up streams than the trees of
the mangrove swamps and, as a rule, forms narrow strips in
the inland portions of water channels through which tides ebb
and flow. The areas covered by this palm are, however, fre-
quently very extensive. There is in Pangil Bay in Mindanao
a single area of nipa covering 9,000 hectares. In some places
mangrove trees have been killed or cut out and nipa planted
over extensive swamps. Such is the case north of Manila Bay,
where much of the original tree growth has been entirely re-
placed by nipa. (For a further consideration of the habitat
of nipa, see Bulletin No. 17, Bureau of Forestry, Manila, on
Mangrove Swamps.) Nipa fruits, which are flat, about 12 centi-
meters long by 10 centimeters broad, are crowded in a very
characteristic, large, globose, fruiting head, which is up to 30
centimeters in diameter and borne on a special, erect stalk.
This plant apparently has no very definite blooming season,
but as a general rule, at least in the provinces of Bulacan and

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

100 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Pampanga, flowers during the months of February and March.
It takes about four months for the fruit to ripen.

THATCHING

Throughout the Islands, except in regions remote from the
sea, the leaves of the nipa palm are by far the most commonly
used material for thatching the light-construction houses in
which most Filipinos dwell. Nipa shingles are also frequently
used for the walls of houses. As nipa roofs take fire readily,
and as a fire in a nipa district spreads with great rapidity and
can be controlled with difficulty, if at all, the use of this ma-
terial for thatching has now been prohibited in large parts of
the city of Manila and other large towns.

Nipa shingles are made by removing the leaflets from the
petiole, and doubling back one-third of the length of the leaflet
over a slender piece of bamboo, placing them so as to overlap.
They are then sewed in position to form an oblong shingle
usually about 70 centimeters in length. In Pampanga a woman
will, at an average, prepare 400 to 500 of these shingles in a
day, some making as many as 800 a day. The shingles are
usually tied in bundles of ten, to facilitate handling.

OTHER USES OF LEAVES

The leaflets are also used for making raincoats and sun-hats
(salakots), coarse baskets, mats, and bags; the midribs for
making coarse brooms, for tying bundles of rice, and for sewing
nipa shingles. The petioles serve as fuel, while splints pre-
pared from the cortex are sometimes used for making baskets.
The leaflets are used for wrapping a rice confection known
as suman, as described under Corypha elata.

SEEDS

The immature seeds are used for food, their taste and con-
sistency being similar to that of the flesh of immature coconuts.
They are sometimes made into a kind of sweetmeat. The mature
seeds are too hard to be eaten.

ALCOHOL

Nipa is very important as a source of alcohol and vinegar,
and is a promising source of sugar. This subject has been
extensively investigated by Gibbs * from whose article most
of the information on this subject is taken. The production
of proof alcohol in the Philippines exceeds ten million liters

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I.
Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

101

Fig. 1. Nipa swamps as far as the eye can reach.

Fig. 2. Uncultivated nipa swamp.
PLATE XXXIX.

102 PHILIPPINE PALMS

annually, and considerably over eighty-five per cent of this prob-
ably is the product of the nipa palm. The alcohol is obtained
by distilling the fermented juice which flows from a cut inflores-
cence stalk after the fruiting head has been removed. As the in-
florescence of the nipa is near the ground, the flower stalk is
conveniently situated for the gathering of the sap, called tuba.
Some time after the fruit is formed, the stalk is cut across its
top, usually just below the fruit, and each day a thin slice is
removed to keep the wound fresh and to facilitate exudation.
If the plant bears two flower stalks, the usual practice is to
take sap from only one, the other being removed.

Sap is collected in bamboo joints which are hung on the
stem. These containers are about 45 centimeters high and 8
centimeters in diameter, and have a capacity of about 2 liters.
The stalk usually gives a flow for about three months, but it
is not uncommon for it to be cut away, or at least cut so close
to the ground that the daily paring is impracticable, long before
the flow has ceased. In some districts the stem is cut before
the fruit is formed; and under such conditions the daily yield
of sap is said to be increased, but the period of flow reduced
from three to one and one-half months, the total yield being
practically the same in both cases. The juice-gathering season
usually lasts about six months.

Gibbs * came to the conclusion that, with the present method
of caring for a nipa area, an average plant would produce 43
liters of sap during the season, while a conservative estimate f
places the number of palms in a cultivated swamp at between
2,000 and 2,500 per hectare, of which 750 may be depended upon
to produce fruiting stalks and consequently be available for
sap collection.

Gibbs gave the following composition for sap of the best
quality :

Density ~JJ ° 1.0720

Total solids 18.00
Ash 0.48

Acidity Trace.

Sucrose 17.00
Reducing sugars Trace.

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I.
Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206.

t Pratt, D. S., Thurlow, L. W., Williams, R. R., and Gibbs, H. D., The
nipa palm as a commercial source of sugar. Philippine Journal of Science,
Section A, Volume 8 (1913), pages 377 to 398.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

103

Q_
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CO

h-
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104 PHILIPPINE PALMS

He found that the inversion of the sucrose began almost im-
mediately after the sap dripped from the stem, and concluded
that it was due to the formation of an enzyme.

Tuba is carried by small boats (bancas) from the place of
collection to the distilleries. According to Gibbs, the inversion
is complete, the alcoholic fermentation well under way and
sometimes completed before the sap arrives at the distillery.
Occasionally the acetic acid fermentation has progressed to a
considerable extent. The yield of alcohol obtained from the sap
varied from 4.1 to 7.5 per cent, the average for 33 distilleries
being 5.6 per cent. Due to faulty methods, the yield of alcohol
is not what it should be. The average price paid for the sap
at the distillery is, according to Gibbs, 0.006 pesos per liter.
Gibbs says that the alcohol produced from the nipa sap should
be about 6 per cent of the tuba, and under favorable conditions
he believes above 7 per cent. With a yield of 6.5 per cent alcohol
the purchase price of the raw material would be equivalent to a
cost of 0.0415 pesos to 0.083 pesos per liter for 90 per cent
alcohol. His estimates would indicate that nipa sap is the
cheapest known source of alcohol. For manufacturing alcohol,
nipa possesses several advantages over grains in that it does not
need purification, pulping, etc. The storage space and fermenta-
tion vats may also be smaller, since fermentation is complete
in from six to ten hours and the material ready to be distilled.
Gibbs estimates that the owner of a nipa area, by selling sap,
clears about 129.00 pesos per hectare per annum.

In some distilleries, especially in those near sugar-cane lands,
molasses is added to the fermenting sap. The molasses, which
usually contains about 60 per cent of fermentable carbohydrates,
is sometimes used in amounts equal to that of the tuba. Accord-
ing to Gibbs the advantages are threefold ; the invertase and al-
coholic ferment in the tuba act with great rapidity upon the
molasses, providing an easy method for the utilization of the
latter ; the production of alcohol is greatly increased ; and when
there is a shortage in the supply of sap, the uninterrupted run-
ning of the stills is assured. The use of molasses during a
portion of the season enables some distilleries to operate the
entire year.

TUBA

The fermented juice (tuba) of the nipa palm is used exten-
sively by the Filipinos as a beverage.

VINEGAR

Considerable quantities of vinegar are manufactured from
nipa tuba by allowing acetic fermentation to follow alcoholic

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

105

•-■>' '

* "f - % -r "

1 tU ;

-Qp&;"

#1 /i^Lf /J VM * »*>Pr^ /*

106 PHILIPPINE PALMS

fermentation. The methods at present used are very crude and
the product inferior. It contains only from 2 to 3 per cent of
acetic acid.

CULTIVATION OF NIPA

A considerable amount of capital is invested in the nipa-alcohol
industry. Large distilleries exist in various nipa swamps, which
latter have been improved by cultivation. Artificial channels have
been dredged to make the nipa areas more accessible for gather-
ing and transporting the sap, and in some places the areas have
been extended by planting. Yet at the present time only a small
part of the available "nipales" is commercially utilized.

The best publication on the cultivation of nipa is a small
pamphlet published in Manila in 1906 by Enrique Zobel, en-
titled "Estudio de la planta Nipa". The following information
is taken from this publication :

Nipa is planted in the months from May to July, the seeds
being placed in holes 1.7 to 2 meters apart. The period of
development does not exceed four years, in which time the plant
flowers, and can be utilized for the production of alcohol. During
the first year the plant attains a height of from 1.5 to 2 meters.
At the end of two years a nipa plant has seven or eight leaves and
this number is maintained throughout its life. The seeds carried
by water and deposited on land under shade seem to develop bet-
ter and to produce healthier plants than those artificially planted
in the open. Nipa is not only reproduced by seeds but also by the
branching of the rhizome. In order to keep a nipal (nipa
swamp) in good condition, the plants must be thinned until they
are from 1.5 to 1.7 meters apart. In doing this it is necessary
to cut up the roots of the plants removed, to prevent their regen-
eration. If a nipa swamp is cultivated for the sap, the fresh
leaves should not be cut ; while it is very advantageous to remove
the drooping or drying leaves, which can be used for thatching
houses, etc. When roofing material and not tuba is desired, three
or four fresh leaves may be cut from each plant, but this inter-
feres with the development of the plant and greatly decreases the
flow of tuba.

If nipa is cultivated for alcohol, care should be taken not to
injure the plant at the time of flowering, as an injury at this
time is likely to cause the flower to die. The first thing done
before gathering the sap is the cleaning of the nipal. The ground
is cleared of weeds and vines and any other obstacles that in-
terfere with the workman passing between the plants to collect
tuba. At this time the mature leaves are cut off, tied into
bundles, and transported to the houses where women make the
nipa shingles.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 107

SUGAR

It is possible that the nipa palm may prove to be a profitable
commercial source of sugar. This subject has been quite ex-
tensively investigated by chemists of the Bureau of Science,*
with the following general results: With a normal average sap
flow of from 30 to 50 liters per plant per day over a period of
three months, with a sap-collecting period of six months, and
with an average of 750 bearing trees per hectare, it was found
that one hectare would produce an average quantity of 30,000
liters of sap. The cost of collecting and delivery at a sugar
mill was found to be about 3.00 pesos per 1,000 liters, and the
sugar yield about 115 kilos of commercial white sugar, polarizing
at 99° or above, per 1,000 liters of sap. The palm juice has
the advantage over cane juice in that it is free from acids,
waxes, etc., is colorless, with no debris and, when fresh, with
no invert sugar. The chief difficulty in utilizing nipa as a
source of sugar lies in the fact that, normally, fermentation com-
mences with the flow of sap from the cut peduncle ; that enzymes
are present in the sap which w r ill in time cause the complete
inversion of the sucrose, and that it is difficult to prevent this
inversion. With the use of a modified type of container for
gathering the sap, freshly lined with lime cream and sulphite,
fermentation and inversion can be prevented or inhibited for
at least twelve hours, thus allowing sufficient time to collect and
deliver the sap without undue loss of sucrose.

Genus ONCOSPERMA Blume

This genus is represented by four closely allied species, all
similar in appearance. They are Oncosperma platyphyllum
Becc. and O. gracilipes Becc, both endemic, and the more widely
distributed Malayan species O. horridum Scheff . and O. filamen-
tosum Blume. Among all the erect palms of the Philippines,
Oncosperma can be at once recognized by the numerous, long,
slender, horizontally spreading, stiff, sharp spines borne on the
trunk throughout its length.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Gregarious. Floriferous branches of the spadix numerous, long, slender,
and inserted at different levels on the rachis. Male flowers with 6
stamens. Fruit small, spherical, 11 to 12 mm in diameter.

1. O. filamentosum.

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I.
Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206.

* Pratt, D. S., Thurlow, L. W., Williams, R. R., and Gibbs, H. D., The
nipa palm as a commercial source of sugar. Philippine Journal of Science,
Section A, Volume 8 (1913), pages 377 to 398.

108 PHILIPPINE PALMS

a 2 . Stem very tall, solitary. Spathe very densely covered with criniform
spines. Spadix with numerous, long, floriferous branches, which
gradually narrow from a very thick base to a slender apex. Fruit
large, spherical, 20 to 22 mm in diameter 2. O. horridum.

a 3 . Rather large and growing in clumps. Spadix with rather short and
thick floriferous branches; the latter clustered together and very
closely scrobiculate. Fruit spherical or very slightly longer than
broad, 15 to 16 mm in diameter, with the remains of the stigmas placed
laterally, about halfway or a little above 3. O. platyphylhcm.

a 4 . Trunk slender. Spadix with relatively few, clustered, thickish, very
closely scrobiculate, floriferous branches. Spathe not densely spinose.
Fruit spherical, 14 to 15 mm in diameter, with nearly apical remains
of the stigmas. Fruiting perianth 12 mm in diameter.. 4. O. gracilipes.

ONCOSPERMA FILAM ENTOSUM Bl. Anibong.

Local names: Anibong (Tagalog, Bisaya) ; anibung (Tagbanua).

Like the other species of the genus, this is a rather tall, slen-
der palm. It often grows subgregariously in favorable habitats,
in ravines, or in lowlands back of the mangrove and often
within the influence of brackish or salt water. The outer part
of the trunk is very hard and durable; and split into narrow
pieces is extensively used by the Filipinos, in the regions where
it grows, for house floors. It is also used for spear shafts.
The bud is edible, either raw or cooked; while in the Malay
Archipelago, perhaps also in the Philippines, the fruits are
sometimes used as a substitute for Areca fruits in preparing
buyo for chewing.

Oncosperma Inorridum is known in Bagobo as tanaian and in
Manobo as anibung.

Genus ORANIA Zippel

Four very closely allied species of this genus have been de-
scribed from the Philippines. These are Orania palindan
(Blanco) Merr. (0. philippinensis Scheff.), 0. paraguanensis
Becc, 0. rubiginosa Becc, and 0. decipiens Becc. The genus is
of slight economic value, and a short discussion of the com-
monest species will suffice.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Floriferous branches ultimately glabrous.

b\ Male flowers angular, lanceolate, 6 to 8 mm long, 3 to 3.5 mm broad,
or about twice as long as broad, having the stamens one-third to
one-half shorter than the petals; anthers linear-oblong. Female
flowers broadly ovate-trigonous, the calyx cupular, very low; petals
triangular, subaequilateral. Fruit spherical or very slightly nar-
rowed at the base, usually 5.5 to 6 cm in diameter, at times somewhat
less; mesocarp about 5 mm thick 1. O. philippinensis.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

109

PLATE XLII. ORANIA PALINDAN (PALINDAN).

110 DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

c\ Fruit exactly spherical, larger than in the species (6.5 cm in
diameter), yet with a thinner mesocarp (3.5 to 4 mm thick).

O. philippinensis var. sibuyanensis.
b 2 . Male flowers narrow, linear, 8 mm long, 2 mm broad, or about four
times as long as broad, having the stamens nearly as long as the
petals and the anthers very narrowly linear. Fruit spherical,
smaller than in O. philippinensis, 4.5 to 4.7 cm in diameter, the meso-
carp 3.5 to 4 mm thick 2. O. paraguanensis.

6 3 . Male flowers narrowly linear. Fruit slightly narrowing to the base,
or slightly pyriform, considerably smaller than in the preceding
species, 4 to 4.5 cm long, 35 to 37 mm thick; kernel spherical,
extended at the base into a broadly obconical blunt point; mesocarp
relatively thick (3 to 4 mm) and furnished with many short and
stout woody fibers. Seed about 25 mm in diameter.. 3. O. decipiens.
c\ Fruit smaller than in the species (37 mm long, 31 to 32 mm thick),
but always more or less narrowing to the base; mesocarp also

thinner (2.5 mm thick) O. decipiens var. mindanaoensis.

c 2 . Fruit spherical, not narrowing to the base, 42 mm in diameter ;

mesocarp 4 to 5 mm thick O. decipiens var. montana.

<i\ Floriferous branches more or less permanently rusty-tomentose. Male
flowers very narrow and long, 1 cm long, 2 to 3 mm broad. Female
flowers pyramidate-trigonous, acuminate, twice as long as broad, calyx
campanulate. Fruit subpyriform, 40 to 45 mm long, 30 to 38 mm
thick; mesocarp thin, 1.5 to 2 mm thick 4. 0. rubiginosa.

ORANIA PALINDAN (Blanco) Merr. (O. philippinensis). (Plate XLII).

Palindan.
Local names: Ambobdnga (Cagayan) ; bdnga (Bisaya) ; baranggoi, bunga,
niogniogan, palindan (Tagalog).

This palm, like others of the genus, is sylvan, growing in
forested valleys at low and medium altitudes. In habit it some-
what resembles the coconut palm and is decidedly ornamental.
It reaches a height of 6 meters and a stem diameter of 30 centi-
meters. Its fruits are globose, hard, and usually about 5 centi-
meters in diameter. No economic use has been indicated for
this palm, although in some parts of the Islands it occurs in
abundance. According to Delgado,* it has poisonous qualities.
Many of the Philippine palms have edible buds, this portion of
the palm being known as ubud in the Archipelago. One of the
Filipino assistants in the Bureau of Science was made violently
sick by eating the cooked ubud of this species, thus bearing out
Delgado's claims regarding the evil properties of the palm.

Genus OREODOXA Willdenow
OREODOXA REGIA HBK. (Plate XLIII). ROYAL PALM.

This species is a native of tropical America and is extensively
grown as an ornamental in the tropics of both hemispheres.

* Historia General de Filipinas (1892), page 685.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

111

PLATE XLIII. OREODOXA REGIA (ROYAL PALM).

112 PHILIPPINE PALMS

It is a stout, erect, stately palm reaching a height of 25 to 30
meters. The trunk is considerably swollen near the base; the
leaves are crowded at the tip of the stem. This palm is ap-
parently not naturalized in the Philippines, but is cultivated in
considerable numbers.

Genus PHOENIX Linnaeus

PHOENIX HANCEANA Naudin. var. PHILIPPIN ENSIS Becc. Voiavoi.

Local name: Voiavoi (Batanes).

This is the only representative of the genus in the Philippines,
except the introduced and cultivated Phoenix rupicola T. Anders,
P. canariensis Hort., and P. dactylifera Linn., and occurs in
the Archipelago only on the small islands north of Luzon. It
grows along mountain streams. Locally its leaves are utilized in
making a peculiar thatched raincoat, extensively used in the
Batanes Islands. The leaflets are split into shreds and woven
into an oblong mat, which is hood-like at one end. The long
free ends of the shreds are arranged like thatch and very
effectively shed even heavy rain.

Phoenix rupicola and P. canariensis are recently introduced
palms now considerably cultivated in Manila for ornamental
purposes ; while old mature trees of the date palm, Phoenix dac-
tylifera, are occasionally found. There is no record, however,
that the date palm has ever produced fruit in the Archipelago.
Genus PINANGA Blume
(Plate XLIV)

This genus is represented by over twenty species, none of
them of economic value. They are all sylvan, pinnate-leaved
palms, more commonly found at medium and higher elevations
than at low altitudes. So far as is known, the bud of all the
species is edible, but as the palms are mostly small and slender
the edible part of the bud is small. Some of the species, such
as Pinanga philippinensis Becc, have stems that do not exceed
2 or 3 centimeters in diameter, while others, such as Pinanga
insignis Becc, have stems up to 10 or 15 centimeters in diam-
eter. All the Philippine species are solitary, scattered plants.
None of them send up shoots from the base. Some are decidedly
ornamental, but cannot be grown in most Philippine towns
on account of the difference in climatic conditions between the
virgin forest at medium and higher altitudes and the open,
settled areas. The seeds of many, perhaps of all the species,

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

113

PLATE XLIV. PINANGA PHILIPPINENSIS.

114 PHILIPPINE PALMS

are occasionally used as a substitute for that of the Areca palm
in preparing buyo for chewing.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Very slender plants having simple flabellate leaves or only one or two
segments on each side of the rachis.
b 1 . Leaves mottled (at least those of young plants), deeply bilobed, other-
wise entire 1. P. maculata.

b 2 . Leaves with a terminal, deeply bilobed flabellum and 1 or 2 acinaciform
segments on each side of the rachis. Spadix simple. Fruit dis-
tichous 2. P. geonomaeformis.

a 2 . Leaves having few (4 to 9), very unequal, inequidistant segments on
each side of the rachis. Spadix branched. Small plants with slender
stems 1 to 3 cm in diameter.
6 1 . Fruits biseriate.

c 1 . Leaves short with very few (4 or 5), unequal, sigmoid-acinaciform,
3- to 7-costulate segments on each side of the rachis, ashy-
puberulous underneath, at least in newly expanded leaves. Spadix
with 3 or 4 branches only. Fruits exactly distichous, narrowly
ovoid, with a conical point, 15 to 16 by 6 to 7 mm. Seed caudic-
ulate at the base; vascular branches of the integument rather

numerous, nearly simple 3. P. modesta.

c\ Leaves having on each side of the rachis 8 or 9, narrow, 2- to
4-costulate, distant, ensiform-subfalcate, very acuminate segments,
which are glabrous underneath. Spadix with 5 or 6 branches.
Fruits exactly distichous, narrow, conical-subfusiform, broadest
below their middle, 16 to 18 by 6 mm; seed elongate, conical
in its upper part; vascular branches of the integument very few

(3 or 4), almost simple 4. P. isabelensis.

6 2 . Fruits 3-seriate. Leaves having on each side of the rachis 7 or 8
very inequidistant, unequal, 1- to 4-costulate, narrowly falcate-
sigmoid, long-acuminate segments, which are glabrous underneath.
Spadix with few (5) triquetrous branches. Fruit small, 11 to 12
by 5 to 5.5 mm, narrowly ovoid-ellipsoid, acute, equally narrowed
to both ends. Seed ovoid, with a conical point; vascular branches
of the integument 8 or 9, slightly anastomosing.. 5. P. heterophylla.
a 3 . Leaves with more numerous segments.

b 1 . Segments ashy-puberulous underneath; plants of moderate size.
c 1 . Fruits 3-seriate. Segments relatively not very numerous, very
unequal, inequidistant, 3- to 7-costulate, deeply incised into 3 to 7
bifid laciniae, the latter falcate, acuminate. Spadix with few
(5 or 6) branches. Fruits relatively large, ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5 to
3.3 cm long. Fruiting perianth low, cupular, not contracted at

the mouth. Stem 3 to 5 cm in diameter 6. P. Barnesii.

c 2 . Fruits 2-seriate.

d 1 . Segments rather numerous, very unequal, 1-pluricostulate, sig-
moidal; when with more than one midcosta then deeply cleft at
the apex into falcate-acuminate points. Spadix with the upper
branches spirally scattered. Fruit obovoid, 18 to 20 by 13 mm.
Seed spherical, with a horizontal embryo fovea. Fruiting
perianth very shallowly cupular or almost explanate.

7. P. Copelandii

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 115

<P . Segments numerous, 2- or 3-costulate, almost straight, not deeply
incised at the apex, the divisions 2-toothed, the teeth acute.
Fruit ovoid-ellipsoid, obtuse, small, 15 by 9 mm. Seed with a
very oblique embryo fovea. Fruiting perianth shallowly cup-
ular, with nearly vertical walls, not contracted at the mouth.

8. P. Curranii.
b 2 . Segments glabrous underneath.
c 1 . Spadix with rather few branches.

cP. Fruits distichous. Small or medium-sized plants.

e 1 . Stem 2 to 5 cm in diameter. Leaf-sheaths densely covered with
a grayish tomentum. Segments rather numerous, slightly
sigmoid, acuminate, usually 3-costulate and relatively broad,
or else narrow and 1-costulate. Spadix with few, scattered
or subdistichous branches. Fruit narrowly ovoid-ellipsoid,
acuminate, 11 to 14 by 5 to 8 mm. Fruiting perianth cupular,
contracted at the mouth 9. P. philippinensis.

e 2 . Very similar to the preceding. Stem 2 to 4 m high, 2 to 5 cm
in diameter. Leaf-sheaths covered with appressed rusty
scales (not tomentose). Segments rather numerous and sub-
equidistant; usually 1-costulate, slightly falcate acuminate
or nearly straight. Spadix with a few scattered spreading
branches. Fruit ovoid-ellipsoid, 12 to 14 by 7 to 8 mm.
Fruiting perianth cupular, contracted at the mouth.

10. P. Elmerii.

e s . Stem 2 to 3 cm in diameter. Leaf-sheaths sprinkled with dark-
purple scales. Segments rather numerous, equidistant, 8 to
9 cm apart on each side of the rachis, 3-costulate, ensiform,
about 60 cm long, 4 to 4.5 cm wide, paler or subglaucous, and
not sprinkled with microlepidia underneath, the apices acu-
minate-caudate and very slightly falcate. Spadix with 14 or
15 spirally alternate branches. Immature fruits fusiform,
14 to 15 mm long (ovate-ellipsoid at complete maturity?).
Fruiting perianth contracted at the mouth. .11. P. urdanetana.

e*. Of medium size (?). Segments lanceolate-ensiform, acuminate,
unequal, straight, 60 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, their lower surface
in the dry specimens reddish-brown and densely sprinkled
with extremely minute, light-colored dots (microlepidia).
Spadix with strongly flattened branches. Fruit thickly fusi-
form, equally narrowing to both ends, 15 to 18 mm long, and
about 1 cm thick. Fruiting perianth very low, contracted at
the mouth 12. P. samarana.

e 5 . Of medium size. Segments very numerous, equidistant, ap-
proximate, long, narrow, slightly falcate, very acuminate, all
unicostulate. Spadix with 5 or 6 much flattened branches.
Fruit relatively large, ovoid-ellipsoid, conical-mammillate at
the apex, the base narrow and subpedicelliform when dry, 23
to 32 mm long, 13 to 14 mm thick. Seed ovoid, suddenly
prolonged at the base into a slender caudiculum; embryo
fovea broad and slightly oblique; vascular branches of the
integument simple on the raphal or dorsal side and anas-
tomosing anticously. Fruiting perianth truncate, not con-
tracted at the mouth 13. P. urosperma.

116 PHILIPPINE PALMS

dr. Fruits 3-seriate, at least in the lower part of the branches.

e\ Segments straight, not falcate at their apices. Plants of
medium size. Fruits small.
f. Segments numerous, very approximate, inserted at a very
acute angle, unicostulate, lanceolate-ensiform, quite straight,
concolorous, the apex bifid, its divisions acuminate. Spadix
with several spirally inserted branches. Fruits 3-seriate
from the base to the end of the branches, ovoid-ellipsoid,
the apices mammillate, 13 to 15 by 6 to 7 mm. Seed
globular-ovoid, rounded above, not caudiculate at the base;
embryo fovea oblique; vascular branches of the integument
few (5 or 6), not or only very slightly divided. Fruiting
perianth very low, 1.5 mm high, 4 mm broad, contracted at

the mouth 14. P. rigida.

f. Segments numerous, equidistant, 6 to 7 cm apart on each
side of the rachis, ensiform, 1- or 2-costulate, straight,
rigid, concolorous, very acuminate, bifid at the apex.
Spadix with several, triquetrous, spirally inserted branches.
Fruits 3-seriate in the lower part of the branches, bifarious
near the end, small, 12 to 15 by 7 to 8 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid;
seed ovoid, not caudiculate at the base; embryo fovea
very oblique; vascular branches of the integument 5,
all slightly anastomosing. Fruiting perianth low, 2 mm
high, 4 mm broad, slightly contracted at the mouth.

15. P. Woodiana.
f. Segments numerous, equidistant, thickish and rigid, 1-cost-
ulate, concolorous, narrow, very long-acuminate. Spadix
with several, 3-gonous, spirally inserted branches. Fruit
broadly ovoid, 13 by 8 to 9 mm. Seed broadly ovoid;
embryo fovea almost horizontal; vascular branches of the
integument 8 or 9, of which two are undivided and pass
over the apex, and 2 or 3 on each side are arched and
slightly anastomosing. Fruiting perianth 2 mm high, 4

mm broad, contracted at the mouth 16. P. sclerophylla.

e 2 . Segments falcate at their apices, numerous, equidistant, rigid,
concolorous, narrow, very long-acuminate, 1- or 2-costulate.
Spadix with several spirally inserted branches, trigonous in
their lower part and flattened above. Fruit 3-seriate in
the lower part of the branches, and bifarious above, rather
narrowly ovoid-ellipsoid, narrowing a good deal to both ends,
12 to 13 by 6 mm. Seed caudiculate at the base ; embryo fovea
slightly oblique. Fruiting perianth contracted at the mouth.

17. P. negrosensis.
c 2 . Spadix large with numerous branches inserted spirally at different
levels. Large arboreous plants.
d\ Fruits biseriate.

e\ Segments very numerous, uniform, equidistant, ensiform, quite
straight, rigid, very acuminate, very strongly 2-costulate,
more or less deeply bifid at their apices, subconcolorous, very
finely granulate-scabrid on the secondary and tertiary nerves
on the lower surface. Fruits rather large, ovoid-ellipsoid,
narrowing to both ends, 24 to 25 by 13 to 14 mm; pericarp

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 117

containing several layers of capillary fibers. Seed obsoletely
caudiculate at the base, the embryo fovea very broad, oblique.
Fruiting perianth 3.5 mm high, 8 mm broad, not or only

very slightly contracted at the mouth 18. P. insignis.

f. Fruit shorter than in the species and more ventricose, 20 to 22

by 13 to 14 mm P. insignis var. gasterocarpa.

f. Fruit narrower than in the species or thickly fusiform, 20

to 22 by 8 to 9 mm P. insignis var. leptocarpa.

P. Fruit very broadly ovoid, 20 to 22 by 13 to 15 mm. Pericarp
with rigid fibers, rendering the surface of the fruit striate.
Leaflets dusty-subglaucous underneath.

P. insignis subsp. Loheriana.
e 2 . Segments very numerous, unicostulate, very approximate by
twos on each side of the rachis, ensiform, quite straight,
very acuminate. Fruits ovoid, broad at the base and
suddenly apiculate-mammillate, 20 by 12 mm. Seed ovoid,
blunt; vascular branches of the integument simple on the
raphal side, elsewhere rather closely anastomosing. Fruit-
ing perianth broadening at the mouth 19. P. batanensis.

e\ Segments elongate-lanceolate, 3-costulate, 1 meter long or more,
spadix with slender, strongly flattened, pendulous branches.
Fruit of medium size, 20 by 12 mm, slightly obovoid or
ovoid-olivaef orm ; pericarp somewhat fleshy, traversed by a
few slender fibers. Seed relatively small, 13 by 8 to 9 mm.
Fruiting perianth deeply cupular or subcampanulate, not
contracted at the mouth, 4 mm high, 6 mm broad.

20. P. basilanensis.
e\ Segments equidistant, large, straight, 2- to- 3-costulate, of a
rather herbaceous texture, the basilar and the intermediate
segments acuminate, the upper with as many not very deep
incisions as there are costae, and with the resulting divisions
shortly 2-toothed. Fruits small, 15 by 9 mm, obovoid,
rounded above. Seed oblong, the embryo fovea very slightly
oblique; vascular branches of the integument almost simple.

21. P. speciosa.
d\ Fruit 3-seriate. Segments ensiform, strongly bicostulate, the
apex divided into two straight points. Fruits rather large,
ovoid-ellipsoid, with a conical apex, 25 to 28 by 15 to 17 mm.
Seed broadly ovoid, rounded above, the embryo fovea some-
what oblique; vascular branches of the integument much
branched and forming a network all around the seed. Fruit-
ing perianth somewhat contracted at the mouth.

22. P. sibuyanensis.

Various local names for Pinanga spp. are: abiki, biinga-
machin, bunga na tukdyong, habika, lubid, saramdu, tibangldn
(Tagalog) ; bagtoan, sakolon, salangisag, sarduag (Manobo) ;
karlilei, kastilde, katiddei (Igorot) ; dapiau (Bataan) ; dasigan,
mama (Iloko) ; habiki, sarduag, tapira, tibangdn (Bisaya) ;
hambuding (Yakan, Moro) ; irdr, sadduag, timbangdlan, saduag
(Bagobo) ; tigdhui (Bukidnon).

118 PHILIPPINE PALMS

Genus PLECTOCOM I A Martius and Blume
PLECTOCOMIA ELMERI Becc.
Local name: Ungang (Bagobo).

This species is a large, climbing palm with stems 5 to 7,5
centimeters in diameter. The young stems are green, the old
ones, yellowish green. It is reported from the district of Davao,
where it was found in dense woods on the southeastern part
of Mount Apo at an elevation of about 1,000 meters.

Genus PTYCHORAPHIS Beccari

This is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms closely related to
Hydrospathe. The Philippine species are sylvan, apparently
rare, and of little economic importance.

Conspectus of the species.

a 1 . Fruit longer than broad.

b\ Of medium size. Leaflets furnished underneath with a few paleolae
on the midrib only. Spadix twice branched. Fruit narrowly ovoid,
tapering above to a slightly oblique, conical point, 10 to 12 mm
long, 5 mm thick. Seed ovoid-ellipsoid, subacute, 7 mm long, 4
mm thick; vascular branches of the integument loosely anastomosing.

1. Pt. microcarpa-
h 2 . Of medium size. Leaflets furnished underneath with paleolae, often

on three nerves. Spadix twice branched. Fruit ovoid-ellipsoid,
not or very slightly and asymmetrically obtuse-acuminate, 12 mm
long, 7 mm thick. Seed ovoid, rounded at both ends; vascular
branches of the integument very closely anastomosing.

2. Pt. intermedia.
b 3 . Robust, stem about 15 m high. Spadix thrice branched. Leaflets

rigid, without paleolae on the lower surface; secondary nerves
well marked; margins somewhat thickened. Fruit narrowly ovoid,
tapering above to a conical, slightly oblique point, 12 to 13 mm
long, 5 mm broad. Seed ovoid-ellipsoid, acute, 9 mm long, 4.5 mm
thick; vascular branches of the integument loosely anastomosing.

3. Pt. Elmerii.
a 2 . Fruit spherical. Stem about 6 m high. Leaflets long-acuminate, the
point slightly falcate. Spadix thrice branched, floriferous branches
12 to 15 cm long, 2.5 to 3 mm thick. The bracteoles of the female
flower form a regular cupular caliculum. Fruiting perianth shallowly
cupular. Fruit spherical, 7 mm in diameter, with the remains of the
stigmas nearly central and apical, the surface not granulose. Seed
spherical, 5.5 mm in diameter 4. Pt. cagayanensis.

Ptychoraphis elmeri is known in Bisaya as belisan, and Pty-
choraphis intermedia in Manobo as marighoi. The buds of
Ptychoraphis elmeri are said to be edible.

Genus ZALACCA Reinwardt

This genus is represented by a single species, Zalacca clemen-
siana Becc. of central Mindanao.

RECENTLY INTRODUCED PALMS 119

ZALACCA CLEMENSIANA Becc.

Local name: Lakaubi (Bagobo).

This palm does not have a trunk, but forms large, dense
clumps with about 7 to 13 shoots in a cluster. The species is
apparently ornamental, but no economic uses are recorded for it.

RECENTLY INTRODUCED PALMS

A number of exotic palms have been introduced into the Phil-
ippines since the year 1905, but have not become sufficiently es-
tablished to warrant their inclusion in a work of this kind or in
any general work on the Philippine flora, as few of them have
matured as yet ; and it is impossible to determine at the present
time those that may persist and those that may die out. Among
these recent introductions are the following: Acoelorrhaphe
ivightii WendL, Archontophoenix alexandreae H. Wendl. & Drude,
Attalea cohiine Mart., Caryota urens L., Chrysalidocarpus lutes-
cens Wendl., Coccothrinax garberi Sarg., Cyrtostachys lakka
Becc, Dictyosperma alba Wendl. & Drude, Dypsis madagasca-
riensis Nichols, Howea belmoreana Becc, Hyophorbe amari-
caulis Mart., H. verschaffeltii Wendl., Latania commersonii Gmel.,
L. loddigesii Mart., Livistona australis Mart., L. chinensis R. Br.,
Martinezia caryotaefolia HBK., Oncosperma tigillaria Ridl.,
Oreodoxa ochracea HBK., Phoenix canariensis Gaertn., P. pu-
silla Gaertn., P. roebelenii O'Brien, P. rupicola T. Anders., Pi-
nanga kuhlii Bl., Pritchardia gaudichaudii Wendl., P. pacifica
Seem. & H. Wendl., Ptychosperma macarthurii H. Wendl., Ra-
phia ruffia Mart., Sabal adansonii Guerns., S. blackburneanum
Glazebrook, S. mauriti forme Griseb. & Wendl., S. palmetto Lodd.,
Thrinax argentea Lodd., T. parviflora Sev., T. robusta H. Wendl.,
and N eoivashingtonia filifera (Wendl.) Sudw.

USES OF PALM PRODUCTS

The products of the Philippine palms and their uses have
been discussed under the headings of the various species. For
convenience in reference, the different products are summarized
in the following section. Numerous minor, local uses are not
included.

Alcohol. A number of Philippine palms are tapped for their
sweet sap from which alcohol and alcoholic drinks are manu-
factured. The most important of these are Nipa, which fur-
nishes more than 85 per cent of the alcohol manufactured in the
Philippines, and the coconut. Alcohol is also obtained from
Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) and Corypha elata (buri). Fer-
mented sap (tuba) is a very popular drink obtained from Nipa

120 PHILIPPINE PALMS

fruticans (nipa), Cocos nucifera (coconut), Corypha elata
(buri), Arenga tremula (dumayaka), Metroxylon sagu (sago
palm), while an inferior product is produced from Areca caliso
and species of Caryota.

Bags. Stout bags are made in enormous quantities from the
leaves of Corypha elata (buri) and Nipa.

Baskets. Splints for baskets are prepared from the petioles
of Arenga pinnata (sugar palm), Arenga tremula (dumayaka),
Cocos nucifera (coconut), Corypha elata (buri), Heterospathe
elata, and species of Caryota. Fibers from the husks of coco-
nuts, split leaves of Corypha, and split stems of the rattan palms
are also used in the manufacture of baskets. In many parts of
the Malay Archipelago baskets are made from Metroxylon sagu
(sago palm), but this use is not recorded from the Philippines.

Beads. The mature seeds of Corypha elata (buri) are used
in the manufacture of beads for rosaries.

Blowguns. The hard outer wood of Livistona spp. (and per-
haps others) is used to make blowguns. Two half cylinders
are grooved, the grooves polished (or sometimes a fine metal tube
inserted in the bore) and the two halves firmly lashed together.

Bows. The outer wood of Livistona spp. is the favorite one for
bows among practically all the hillfolk of the islands.

Brooms. Coarse brooms are made from the leaves of Arenga
pinnata (sugar palm), Corypha elata (buri), Cocos nucifera ,
(coconut), Livistona cochinchinensis (tarau), and Nipa.

Brushes. The fibers of coconut husks and the bases of the
leaves of Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) are used for making
brushes.

Buttons. The mature seeds of Corypha elata (buri) and Coelo-
coccus amicarum (Polynesian ivory-nut palm) are used in the
manufacture of buttons.

Buyo. The nut of Areca catechu sprinkled with lime and
wrapped with the leaf of Piper betle (ikmo) is called buyo and
is used for chewing. Various other palm nuts are sometimes
substituted for those of Areca catechu. The substitutes include
Adonidia merrillii, Areca caliso, Areca ipot, Heterospathe elata,
Oncosperma, and Pinanga.

Canes. See Rattans and Walking sticks.

Cardboard (substitute for). The sheathing part of the leaves
and also the spathe enveloping the flower stalk of Areca catechu
are used as substitutes for cardboard.

Carriers , poles. On account of its great strength and springi-
ness, the hard outer wood of Livistona spp. is a great favorite

USES OF PALM PRODUCTS 121

for the "pingga", or shoulder-pole, of the Chinese and Filipino
pack carriers.

Caulking. Soft fibers obtained from Arenga pinnata (sugar
palm) , Caryota spp., and the coconut are used for caulking boats.

Chairs. The whole stems of the rattan palms are used in
making frames of chairs and the split stems for the bottoms
and backs of the so-called cane-seat chairs. See Rattans.

Charcoal. The shells of the coconut furnish a high grade of
charcoal extensively used in the past European war for gas-
masks.

Cordage. See Fibers.

Dye. The fruits of Areca catechu (betel palm) are sometimes
used for dyeing black and red shades.

Fertilizer. The kernels of the coconut after having the oil ex-
tracted are used as fertilizer.

Fibers. Fibers from the coconut husks are used for mats.
Nipa fibers are employed in tying bundles of rice and sewing
shingles. Caryota spp. and Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) pro-
duce a fiber used in caulking boats and as tinder. Fibers from
the leaves, from the cortex of the petioles and from the interior
of the petioles of Corypha elata (buri) are used for weaving
fine hats. A very fine kind of thatching is made from the fibers
at the base of the leaves of Arenga pinnata. The fibro-vascular
bundles of buri petioles are frequently used in making rope,
as are also the Arenga pinnata fibers (cabo negro). Rattans
are used, twisted two or three together, for logging and towing
cables and for tying logs into rafts.

Fish Traps. Rattan palms are extensively used in making fish
traps. See Rattans.

Fishing rods. The hard outer wood of Livistona spp. is ex-
tremely resilient and therefore makes an excellent material for
fishing rods.

Floors. The hard outer wood of Livistona spp. (anahau), On-
cosperma spp. (anibong), the coconut palm, and perhaps some
other genera, is split into strips from 5 to 10 cm. wide and used
for flooring.

Food. The coconut is the most valuable palm from the stand-
point of food. Both the mature and immature fruits are va-
riously thus employed. The oil pressed from the mature fruits
is used as food, for cooking, and as a substitute for butter and
lard. The kernels from which the oil has been pressed are
used as food for stock. The young seeds of Nipa, Corypha elata
(buri) , and Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) are employed as food,
chiefly in some form of sweetmeat. The seeds of some species

122 PHILIPPINE PALMS

of Calamus are covered with an edible pulp. The young stems of
some species are cooked and eaten as a salad. Some have a
swollen basal portion which contains starch and which is eaten
by woodsmen. The bud, locally called ubud, of most palms is
edible. In the Philippines the buds of the following palms are
known to be used for food: Areca catechu (betel nut), Arenga
ambong, Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) , some species of Calamus,
Cocos nucifera (coconut palm), Corypha elata (buri), Heteros-
pathe elata (sagisi), and probably all other species of Heteros-
pathe, Metroxylon sagu (sago palm), the different species of
Livistona (anahau), and Oncosperma (anibong). The buds of
many other palms are certainly edible.

Furniture. Many articles of furniture are manufactured from
the stems of the rattan palms. See Rattans.

Fuel. The kernels of the coconut after having the oil pressed
from them are sometimes used as fuel, while the shells are fre-
quently used for this purpose in the artificial drying of copra,
and locally as a substitute for coal in various manufacturing
establishments. The petioles of nipa, coconut and other palms
are also used as domestic fuel.

Hats. Corypha elata (buri) is the source of material from
which a number of valuable types of hats are manufactured.
Excellent hats are also made from rattans. Other palms em-
ployed for use in making hats are Areca catechu (betel palm),
Cocos nucifera (coconut), Heterospathe elata (sagisi), Livistona
spp. (anahau), and Nipa,

Household Utensils. The shells of the coconut are employed for
various household utensils, as cups, bowls, spoons, etc., and as
molds for cane and buri sugar put up in lenticular cakes for the
retail trade.

Mats. Corypha elata (buri), Nipa, and the rattans are used
in the Philippines for making mats. Mats are also made in
other places from Metroxylon sagu (sago palm), but this is not
recorded from the Philippines.

Oil. The coconut furnishes large quantities of oil for export.
Locally it is used for food, cooking, and illumination. Elaeis
guineensis is an important source of oil in other countries, but
in the Philippines is grown only as an ornamental.

Ornament. Most palms are ornamental, although not always
used for this purpose. Among those extensively planted in the
Philippines for ornamental purposes are Adonidia merrillii,
Arenga tremula, Caryota spp., Cocos nucifera, Heterospathe
elata, Licuala spinosa, Livistona spp., Orania, Oredoxa regia,
Pinanga spp., Areca ipot f and Arenga mindorensis. The fol-

USES OF PALM PRODUCTS 123

lowing are very ornamental, but are not as yet cultivated : Areca
vidaliana, Arenga ambong, and Zalacca clemensiana. The
leaves of the coconut are used extensively in temporary decora-
tions and large numbers of them are employed on Palm Sunday.

Raincoats. The leaves of Livistona spp., Nipa fruticans, and
Phoenix hanceana are used for raincoats.

Rattans. Rattan is supplied by the climbing palms Calamus,
Daemonorops, and Korthalsia; the best commercial rattan being
furnished by the genus Calamus. The entire cane of the rattan
is used' in the manufacture of chairs and other furniture and
for walking sticks. The split canes are used for bale-ties, bas-
kets, hats, fish traps, mats, chairs, bottoms and backs of so-called
cane-seat chairs, parts of beds, tables, etc., and in great quan-
tities for tying together posts, beams, rafters, flooring and
roofing in the majority of light wooden and bamboo houses.
The central portion of the canes is split and used for wicker
(so-called "reed") furniture.

Rope. See Fibers.

Slippers. The lower sheath-like parts of the leaf stalks of
Areca catechu (betel palm) are used for inner soles; and the
outer part of the petioles of Corypha elata (buri) for soles of
sandals.

Spear shafts. The hard outer wood of Livistona spp. and On-
cosperma spp. is a favorite material for this purpose. The en-
tire stems of some of the small erect palms (perhaps Pinanga
spp.) and occasionally some of the hardest and stiff est rattans
are also used.

Starch. This product is obtained from the stems of Corypha
elata (buri), Arenga pinnata (sugar palm), and Metroxylon
sagu (sago palm) and sometimes from species of Caryota.

Stinging Crystals. The fruits of Arenga pinnata (sugar palm)
contain stinging crystals which are sometimes used for the pro-
tection of fish ponds against nocturnal robbers.

Sugar. This product is obtained from Arenga pinnata (sugar
palm) and Corypha elata (buri). The Nipa palm is a very
promising commercial source of sugar, while the juice of Cory-
pha used in connection with the juice of sugar cane might also
be a commercial source. Sugar could be manufactured from the
sap of the coconut palm.

Syrup. This product is manufactured from the sap of Corypha
elata (buri).

Tannin. The fruits of Areca catechu (betel palm) contain a
considerable quantity of tannin.

Thatching Material. The leaves of Nipa are the most widely used

124 PHILIPPINE PALMS

thatching material in the Islands. A very durable thatching is
made from the fibers at the base of the leaves of Arenga pinnata
(sugar palm). The leaves of the following palms are also used
for thatching: Cocos nucifera (coconut), Corypha elata (buri),
Livistona spp. (anahau), and Metroxylon sagu (sago palm).

Timber. The stems of old coconut palms are used for house-
posts, wharves and bridges ; the split, outer portion of the stems
of Caryota spp., Livistona spp. (anahau) , Metroxylon sagu (sago
palm), and Oncosperma (anibong) for floors; and the stems of
Metroxylon sagu (sago palm) for rafters. The stems of Liv-
istona spp. (palma brava) take a high polish and, if protected
from the rain, last well. They are used extensively as pillars.
Spear shafts are made from the outer shell of the stems of
Livistona and Oncosperma and bows from Livistona.

Tinder. A fine fiber obtained from Arenga pinnata (sugar
palm) and Caryota spp. makes an excellent tinder.

Vermifuge. The fruits of Areca catechu (betel palm) are used
extensively as a vermifuge.

Vinegar. This product is obtained from the sap of Nipa,
Arenga pinnata (sugar palm), Cocos nucifera (coconut), and
Corypha elata (buri) .

Walking sticks. Species of Calamus (rattan) found in Palawan
furnish beautiful canes known in commerce as Malacca canes.
The outer parts of the stems of Livistona (palma brava) are also
used extensively as walking sticks, as are occasionally the whole
stems of some of the small species of Pinanga.

Water. Stems of some species of Calamus (rattan) contain
water which is used for drinking purposes.

Water pipes and troughs. Whole or split trunks of Livistona
spp., and probably of other large palms, are used as water
conduits in irrigation, as eave troughs, etc.

INDEX

Page.

Abaka 38,64

Abiang 92

Abigi 34

Abiki 34, 117

Acoelorrhaphe wightii 119

Actinorhytis calapparia 13, 15

Adonidia merrillii.. 5, 13, 15, 17, 18,

120, 122

Agel 76

Ambobanga 110

Ambolong.... 96

Ambulong 96

Ambung 26

Anaau 92

Anahau 14, 92, 93, 95, 121, 122, 124

Anau 92

Anibong 108,121,122

Anibung 108

Anipa 98

Archontophoenix alexandreae.. 119

Areca caliso 13, 23, 120

Areca camarinensis 5, 13, 19, 25

Areca catechu 5, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20,

21,24,120,121,122,123,124

Areca catechu (communis) 16,21

Areca catechu (semisilvatica) .. 21

Areca catechu var. alba... 22

Areca catechu var. batanensis.. 13, 16
Areca catechu var. longicarpa.. 13, 16,

22
Areca catechu var. portoricen-

sis 22

Areca catechu var. silvatica.,13, 16, 21

Areca costulata 13,19

Areca hutchinsoniana.. 13, 20, 24

Areca ipot 5, 13, 19, 25, 120, 122

Areca ipot var. polillensis 13, 19

Areca macrocarpa 5, 13, 16, 25

Areca parens.... 5, 13, 19, 25

Areca vidaliana 13,20,24,123

Areca whitfordii 13, 16, 19, 24

Areca whitfordii var. luzonen-

sis 13,19

Page.

Arecella 19

Arecopsis 19

Arenga ambong 13,26,122,123

Arenga mindorensis.... 13, 26, 34, 122

Arenga pinnata.. 5,13,26,27,28,29,

58,119,120,121,122,123,124

Arenga saccharifera 26

Arenga tremula.. ...... 5, 13, 26, 33, 34,

120, 122
Attalea cohune 119

Bagatai 68

Bagatbat 26

Bagsang 92, 96

Bagtoan 117

Bahi 58,92

Balak 92

Balanocarpus 19

Balatbat 88, 91

Balla 92

Ballang 92

Banga 110

Banisan 34

Banlo 76

Baranggoi 110

Baris 34

Batbat 26,34

Bayokbok 76

Belis 34

Betel nut 122

Betel palm.... 15, 20, 121, 122, 123, 124

Bilis 88

Black rope 26

Boa 20

Boga 24

Bua ........; 20

Bull 68

Bulno 92

Buhga 20, 24, 110

Bunga de China 15,17,18

Bunga de Jol6— 15

Bunga machin 117

125

126

INDEX

Page. I

BuiTga na tukayong 117

BuiTgang-gubat 24

Bungang-ipot 24

Bungang-matulia 23

Bungang-pato.... 23

Buri 14, 68, 71, 72, 73, 75, 119, 120,

121,122,123,124

Buri palm 80

Buri raffia 74

Cabo negro 26, 121

Calamus arugda 13, 51

Calamus bicolor 13, 54

Calamus blancoi 13, 49

Calamus cumingianus 13, 50

Calamus diepenhorstii var. ex-

ulans 13,50

Calamus dimorphacanthus 13

Calamus dimorphacanthus

(forma typica) 54

Calamus dimorphacanthus var.

montalbanicus 13, 54

Calamus dimorphacanthus var.

zambalensis 13, 54

Calamus discolor 13, 50

Calamus discolor var. negros-

ensis 13, 50

Calamus elmerianus 13, 52

Calamus filispadix 13, 50

Calamus foxworthyi 13, 50

Calamus grandifolius 13, 51

Calamus halconensis 13, 54

Calamus jenningsianus 13,51

Calamus manillensis 13, 51

Calamus maxima 13

Calamus maxima var. merrit-

tianus 13

Calamus maxima var. nanga .... 13

Calamus megaphyllus 13, 52

Calamus melanorhynchus 13, 49

Calamus merrillii (forma typ-
ica) 50

Calamus merrillii var. merrit-

tianus 50

Calamus merrillii var. nanga. ... 50

Calamus meyerianus 13, 49

Calamus microcarpus. 13

Calamus microcarpus (forma

typica) 54

Calamus microcarpus var. di-

minutus 14, 54

Page.

Calamus microsphaerion 14, 53

Calamus microsphaerion (for-
ma typica) 53

Calamus microsphaerion var.

spinosior 14

Calamus mindorensis 14, 51

Calamus mitis 14, 52

Calamus mollis 49

Calamus mollis (forma typi-
ca) 49

Calamus mollis var. major 49

Calamus mollis var. palawan-

ensis 49

Calamus moseleyanus 14, 51

Calamus multinervis.... 14, 51

Calamus ornatus var. philip-

pinensis 6, 14, 41, 50

Calamus ramulosus.... 14,53

Calamus reyesianus 14,52

Calamus samian 14, 52

Calamus simphysipus 14, 50

Calamus siphonospathus 14

Calamus siphonospathus (for-
ma typica) 53

Calamus siphonospathus var.

batanensis 14, 54

Calamus siphonospathus var.

oligolepis, major 14, 53

Calamus siphonospathus var.

oligolepis, minor 14, 53

Calamus siphonospathus var.

polylepis 14, 53

Calamus siphonospathus var.

sublaevis 14, 53

Calamus spinifolius 14, 52

Calamus trispermus 14, 51

Calamus usitatus 5, 37, 39, 14

Calamus usitatus var. major... 14
Calamus usitatus var. pala-

wanicus 14

Calamus vidalianus 14, 53

Calamus vinosus 14, 51

Calamus viridissimus 14, 52

Caryota cumingii 14, 56, 58

Caryota majestica 14, 56, 58

Caryota merrillii 14, 56, 58

Caryota mitis 14, 56, 58

Caryota rumphiana ... 6, 55, 57, 58, 59
Caryota rumphiana var. oxyo-

donta 14,56

Caryota rumphiana var. philip-

pinensis 14, 56

INDEX

127

Page.

Caryota spp 121,124

Caryota urens 58, 119

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens 119

Coccothrinax garberi...... 119

Coco 13,60

Coconut 64, 65, 120, 124

Coconut palm.... 14, 60, 61, 67, 122

Cocos nucifera.... 14,60,120,122,124

Cocos plumosa 60

Cocotero 60

Coelococcus amicarum 68, 120

Corypha elata 6, 14, 64, 68, 70, 71,

72,73,75,76,80,100,119,120,
121, 122, 123, 124

Cymbospatha 82

Cyrtostachys lakka 119

Daemonorops affinis 14, 84

Daemonorops clemensianus...... 14, 82

Daemonorops curranii 14, 84

Daemonorops gaudichaudii 14, 84

Daemonorops gracilis 14, 84

Daemonorops loherianus 14, 82

Daemonorops margaritae var.

palawanicus 14, 82

Daemonorops mollis 7, 14, 83

Daemonorops ochrolepis 14, 82

Daemonorops oligolepis.... 14, 82

Daemonorops pannosus.... 14, 82

Daemonorops pedicellaris 14, 82

Daemonorops urdanetanus 14, 82

Daemonorops virescens... 14, 82

Daet 76

Dapiau 20, 117

Dasigan 117

Dayumaka 34, 86

Dictyosperma alba 119

Dumayaka 33, 34, 120

Dypsis madagascariensis 119

Ebiok 26

Ebus 68

Elaeis guineensis 7, 84, 85, 87, 122

Euareca 16

Fish-tail palm..

Giragara ...

Gumaka

Gumayaka

60
34
34

Page.
II

Habika 117

Habiki 117

Habiok 26

Hagol 58

Hambuding 117

Heterospathe elata 7, 14, 86, 89,

120, 122
Heterospathe negrosensis.... 14, 86, 88
Heterospathe philippinensis... . 14, 86
Heterospathe sibuyanensis.. 14, 86, 88

Hidiok 26

Howea belmoreana 119

Hubuk 76

Hyophorbe amaricaulis 119

Hyophorbe verschaffeltii 119

Ibiok 26

Ibus 68

Igok 26

Ikmo 20, 120

Ipod 24

Ipot 24

Irar 117

Irok 26

Ivory-nut palm, Polynesian.... 68, 120

Kaliso 23

Kaong 13, 26

Karlilei 117

Kastilde 117

Katiddei 117

Kauing 26

Kolowratia elegans 30

Korthalsia laciniosa 14, 88

Korthalsia merrillii 14, 88

Korthalsia scaphigeroides 14, 88

Korthalsia squarrosa 14, 88

Labig 92

Lakaubi 119

Langdang 96

Lasa 98

Latania commersonii.... 119

Latania loddigesii 119

Licuala spinosa 7, 14, 88, 91, 122

Livistona australis 119

Livistona chinensis 119

Livistona cochinchinensis.... 7, 11, 14,

90, 92, 94, 120

Livistona merrillii 14, 90

128

INDEX

Page.

Livistona robinsoniana 14, 90

Livistona rotundifolia.... 7, 14, 90, 92,

95,96
Livistona rotundifolia var. lu-

zonensis 14, 90

Livistona rotundifolia var. mi-

crocarpa 14, 90

Livistona rotundifolia var.

mindorensis 14, 90

Livistona spp.. 7, 93, 120, 121, 123, 124

Lobi 60

Lubi 60

Lubia 117

Lugosu 20

Lumbai 96

Lumbia 96

Lumbiag 96

Luyong 92

Luyos 20

Makapuno 66

Mama 117

Manila hemp 38, 64

MaiTgipod 24

Marighoi 118

Martinezia caryotaefolia 119

Metroxylon rumphii 14, 96

Metroxylon sagu 7, 14, 96, 97, 120,

122, 123, 124

Neowashingtonia filifera 119

Ngotngot 60

Niog 60

Niogniogan 110

Nipa 12, 14, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102,

103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 119

120, 122, 123, 124

Nipa fruticans.... 7, 14, 98, 99, 120, 123

Niug 60

Oil palm 84,85,87

Onau 26

Ongot 60

Oncosperma filamentosum..-.. 14, 107
Oncosperma gracilipes.... 14, 107, 108

Oncosperma horrida 14

Oncosperma horridum 107, 108

Oncosperma platyphylla 14

Oncosperma platyphyllum.... 107, 108

Page.

Oncosperma tigillaria 119

Oncosperma spp 121, 123

Orania decipiens 14, 108, 110

Orania decipiens var. minda-

naoensis 14, 110

Orania decipiens var. monta-

na 14, 110

Orania palindan 8, 108, 109, 110

Orania paraguaensis 14, 110

Orania philippinensis 14, 108, 110

Orania philippinensis var. si-

buyanensis — . 14, 110

Orania rubiginosa 14, 108, 110

Oreodoxa ochracea 119

Oreodoxa regia 8, 110, 111, 122

Oring-oring 15

Palindan 110

Palma brava 92, 124

Pasa 20

Patikan 58

Phoenix canariensis 112, 119

Phoenix dactylifera 112

Phoenix hanceana var. philip-
pinensis 14, 112, 123

Phoenix pusilla 119

Phoenis roebelenii.. 119

Phoenix rupicola 112, 119

Piet 68

Pilig 92

Pinanga barnesii 14, 114

Pinanga batanensis... 14, 117

Pinanga copelandii— 14, 114

Pinanga curranii 14, 114

Pinanga elmerii 14, 115

Pinanga geonomaeformis 14, 114

Pinanga heterophylla 15, 114

Pinanga insignis 15, 112, 117

Pinanga insignis var. loheria-

na 15, 117

Pinanga insignis var. gastero-

carpa 15, 117

Pinanga insignis var. lepto-

carpa 15, 117

Pinanga isabelensis 15, 114

Pinanga kuhlii 119

Pinanga maculata 15, 114

Pinanga modesta 15, 114

Pinanga negrosensis 15, 116

Pinanga philippinensis 8, 15, 112,

113,115

INDEX

129

Page.

Pinanga rigida 115, 116

Pinanga sibuyanensis 15, 117

Pinanga samarana 15, 115

Pinanga sclerophylla 15, 116

Pinanga speciosa 15, 117

Pinanga urdanetana 15, 115

Pinanga urosperma.. 15, 115

Pinanga woodiana 15, 116

Pinanga spp 117, 122, 123

Piper betle 15, 20, 120

Piptospatha 82

Pisa 24

Pita 24

Plectocomia elmerii 15, 118

Pola 58

Pritchardia gaudichaudii 119

Ptychoraphis cagayanensis.... 15, 118

Ptychoraphis elmerii 15, 118

Ptychoraphis intermedia 15, 118

Ptychoraphis microcarpa 15, 118

Ptychosperma macarthurii 119

Pugahan 55, 57, 58, 59, 71

Punlaing 60

Raphia ruffia 119

Rapitan 26

Royal palm 110,111

Rumaka 34

Sabal adansonii 119

Sabal blackburneanum 119

Sabal mauritiforme 119

Sabal palmetto 119

Sadauag 117

Saduag 117

Saga 98

Sagisi 86,89,122

Sago 14

Sago palm.... 96, 97, 120, 122, 123, 124

Sagu 96

Saguran 76

Sakolon 23, 117

Saksig 24

Saksik 24

166908 9

Page.

Salangisag 117

Salaniog 86

Saluay 88

Saramau 117

Sarau 92

Sarauag 117

Sasa 98

Segisi 86

Serar 68

Sika 48

Silad 68

Silag 68

Sugar palm 13, 26, 27, 28, 29, 119,

120, 121, 122, 123, 124

Tagabunga 23

Tagipan 58

Tagise 86

Takobtob 20

Taktak 68

Tangalo 15

Tapira 117

Tarau 11, 92, 94, 120

Tata 98

Thrinax argentea 119

Thrinax parviflora... 119

Thrinax robusta 119

Tibangan 117

Tibanglan 117

Tig'ahui 117

Tikal 92

Tikis 92

Timbangalan 117

Tipon-tipan 34

Ugsang 88

Unau 26

Ungang 118

Vitex negundo 30

Voiavoi 112

Zalacca clemensiana.. 15, 118, 119, 123

BUREAU OF FORESTRY

MANILA, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Bulletin No. 1 (1903). — Report on investigations made in Java in the year
1902. By Elmer D. Merrill. Out of print.

ulletin No. 2 (1906). — The charcoal industry of the Philippine Islands
By Wm. M. Maule. Out of print.
'etin No. 3 (1906). — A compilation of notes on india rubber and gutta-
^cha. Out of print.
In No. 4 (1906). —I. Mechanical tests, properties, and uses of thirty
npine woods. II. Philippine sawmills, lumber market, and prices.
Hand Gardner. Out of print.
T o. 5 (1906). — A preliminary working plan for the public forest
the Insular Lumber Company, Negros Occidental, P. I. By H
t and H. N. Whitford. Out of print.
B 6 (1906). — A preliminary working plan for the public forest

Mindoro Lumber and Logging Company, Bongaoon, Mindoro
L. Merritt and H. N. Whitford. Out of print.
907). — A preliminary check list of the principal commercial
Philippine Islands. By H. N. Whitford. Out of print.
908). — The forests of Mindoro. By Melvin L. Merritt

Bun
u

Bulle

Oiu
Bulletin

Hutch
Bulletin

produ
Bulletin
Bulletin

Wihi*
Bulletin

D.
Bull

ai
Bulk

A
Bull,

). — A Philippine substitute for lignum-vitae. By W. I
entavos.*

). — The forests of the Philippines. I. Forest types and
i principal forest trees. By H. N. Whitford. 2.50 pesos.
12). — The uses of Philippine woods. Out of print.
,1912). — Volume tables for round timber. Compiled by
ne. Out of print.

(1915). — Ipil-ipil. A firewood and reforestation crop. By
iews. 50 centavos.
A (1916). — Commercial woods of the Philippines; their prep-
.d uses. By E. E. Schneider. 2 pesos.

. 15 (1918). — Philippine bamboos. By William H. Brown and
F, Fischer. 1.50 pesos.
No. 16 (1918). — Philippine forest products as sources of paper
> By William H. Brown and Arthur F. Fischer. 50 centavos.

i No. 17 (1918). — Philippine mangrove swamps. By William H.
wn and Arthur F. Fischer. 2 pesos,
tin No. 18 (1919). — Philippine palms and palm products. By William
.. Brown and Elmer D. Merrill. 1.50 pesos.

iletin No. 19 (1919) .—Philippine fiber plants. By William H, Brown.
1.50 pesos.

* Fifty cents TJ. S. currency equal 1 peso or 100 centavos.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

■111

3 9015 05068 6784

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