60 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 
Apitong is the most generally used construction wood in the 
Islands. It is apparently impossible to distinguish com- 
mercially between the wood of the different species of Dipte- 
rocarpus and that of all the species known commercially as 
apitong. Apitong is the most abundant wood in the Philippine 
Islands, composing, according to Foxworthy,* 20 per cent of 
the volume of our commercial forests. 
Dipterocarpus grandiflorus is found throughout the Philip- 
pine Archipelago, and has been reported from the following 
localities: Palaui Island, Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, Benguet, 
Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Abra, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, 
Zambales, Bataan, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Tayabas, Camarines, 
Mindoro, Capiz, Sibuyan Island, Albay, Samar, Negros, Pala- 
wan, Misamis, and Agusan. It is especially plentiful in regions 
where the dry season is pronounced. 
DIPTEROCARPUS VERNICIFLUUS Blanco. (Figs. 20-22). PANAU. 
Local names: Af& (Ilocos Norte); apitong (Mindoro, Polillo, Bataan, 
Tayabas, Marinduque, Leyte, Laguna, Samar); baldu (Rizal, Zamboanga) ; 
duien, lamilan (Isabela); gan-dn (Camarines); kalustiban (Ilocos Sur) ; 
kamuyau, kurimau, pagsaingin, pamarnisen (Cagayan); laudn (Negros, 
Rizal, Nueva Ecija) ; lipét or lipis (Agusan); liptis (Surigao); malapdho 
(Polillo); matatalina (Zamboanga); padsahiigin (Laguna); pamantilen 
(Pangasinan) ; pdnau (Rizal, Palawan, Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Panga- 
sinan, Davao, Cotabato, Cagayan, Laguna, Pampanga, Tayabas, Nueva 
Ecija.) 
BALAU (PANAU) RESIN 
Oil obtained from the trunk of this species is very similar 
to balau from Dipterocarpus grandiflorus, is used for the same 
purposes, and is regularly called balau. This oil is also known 
as oil of panau, and sometimes as malapaho. 
Clover,+ who investigated the chemical properties of oil of 
panau states that the method of obtaining this oil from the tree 
is the same as that used in the case of balau. It is reported 
that a gallon per day is sometimes obtained. The fresh resin 
is a white, viscous, sticky fluid having a characteristic odor 
by which it is distinguished from similar products. When ex- 
posed to the air, oxygen is absorbed and the color gradually turns 
brown. It hardens very slowly when exposed in a thin film. It 
is insoluble in water, but dissolves in ether or chloroform with 
the separation of water. When distilled with a free flame it acts 


* Foxworthy, F. W., Philippine Dipterocarpaceae, II. Philippine Journal 
of Science, Section C, Volume 13 (1918), page 163. 
+ Clover, A. M., Philippine wood oils. Philippine Journal of Science, 
Section A, Volume 1 (1906), page 198. 
