21,1 Cole: Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol 37 
saps as a source of alcohol; most of these publication are out 
of print. 
THE NIPA PALM, NIPA FRUCTICANS WURMB 
The nipa™ is an erect, stemless palm, the leaves and inflorescences 
arising from a branched rootstock, the leaves pinnate, 3 to 10 meters long. 
Inflorescence from near the base of the leaves, erect, brown, 1 to 1.5 or 2 
meters high, bearing numerous sheathing spathes and both male and female 
flowers, the former lateral, catkin-like, the latter terminal in a globose head. 
Fruit nodding, globose, as large as a man’s head or often considerably 
larger, consisting of many obovoid, 6-angled, 1-celled, 1-seeded carpels, the 
free parts pyramidal, the pericarp fibrous, the seed large, white, hard. 
This species of palm grows in great abundance throughout 
the Archipelago in the tidewater estuaries and tidal rivers or 
other places flooded by the tides with brackish water. It does 
not thrive in either fresh- or salt-water marshes. Plate 1 shows 
the distribution of nipa swamps in the Islands. 
* %* * Rated in order of size, irrespective of their present commercial 
importance, the most extensive areas are situated as follows: 
Portions of the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan bordering on Manila 
Bay, Island of Luzon. Province of Capiz, Island of Panay. The valley 
of the Cagayan River, Island of Panay. The valley of the Cagayan River, 
Island of Luzon. The valleys of the Catubig and the Gandara Rivers in 
the Island of Samar. The Province of Pangasinan, Island of Luzon. 
Surigao, Island of Mindanao. The Province of Tayabas, Island of Luzon. 
The other nipa areas of the Philippines do not compare in size with those 
listed above. 
In this connection it might be well to point out that the tide- 
water flats on which the nipa flourishes also produce various 
species of mangrove. The mangrove furnishes a valuable source 
of fuel which in virgin stands could be utilized for the distilla- 
tion of the nipa sap. The virgin mangle has long since disap- 
peared from the region around the upper part of Manila Bay. 
In this district cultivated mangrove swamps are found from 
Malabon on the east to Balanga on the west side. 
Nipa* and bakauan [a species of mangrove most used for firewood] are 
planted extensively in solid stands, but there is little planting of other 
swamp species. 
Hundreds, and may be thousands, of hectares are planted to bakauan, 
which is grown for firewood, and sold principally in the Manila market, 
this wood being preferred to almost all others for fuel. The Manila supply 
is inadequate, as is indicated by the remarkably complete utilization of 
the swamps in the vicinity, and by the use of other and inferior species. 
* Gibbs, H. D., Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 6 (1911) 99-206. Since reprints 
of this article are exhausted, part of it will be quoted in full, other parts 
abstracted and brought up to date. 
* Brown, W. H., and Fischer, A. F., Philippine Mangrove Swamps, Bull. 
P. I. Bur. Forestry 17 (1918) 94. 
