180 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 
€ 
oil are soluble in 90 per cent alcohol and should yield no dis- 
tillate below 170°. 
Acorus calamus has stout, branched, aromatic rhizomes. The 
leaves are flat, smooth, 25 to 60 centimeters long, and 1 to 1.5 
centimeters wide. The spathe is green, much elongated, and 
similar in shape to the leaves. The spadix is 3 to 5 centimeters 
long, 1 centimeter or less in diameter, and bears many flowers. 
This species occurs throughout the Philippines as a cultivated 
plant. In the Mountain Province, Luzon, at and above an al- 
titude of 1,400 meters, it is sometimes found growing wild in 
swamps in great abundance. However, this plant has appar- 
ently been introduced into the Philippines. ‘ 
Family ZINGIBERACEAE 
Genus CURCUMA 
CURCUMA LONGA L. DILAU OR TURMERIC. 
Local names: Ange (Pampanga); azafrdn (Spanish in Zamboanga) ; 
bardk (Cuyo Islands); ddlaw (Iloko in Cagayan); dildu (Bataan, Rizal, 
Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas) ; dilau-puld (Laguna); duldu (Leyte, 
Capiz, Iloilo, Cuyo Islands) ; kalauwag (Camarines, Albay, Zambales) ; ku- 
ldlaw (Pangasinan); kiunig (Ilocos Sur, Cagayan); luyang-dilau (Ba- 
tangas). 
DILAU OIL 
The rhizomes of Curcuma longa are used extensively in the 
Philippines as a condiment and for food coloration and also as ~ 
an ingredient of curry. 
Bacon * found that when 123 kilos of roots were distilled, 290 
grams of a brown-colored oil were obtained. The constants of 
this oil were as follows: Specific gravity, of —0.930; refractive 
30° 
index N PH 1.5030; optical rotation, AS =8°.6; ester number, * 
81; miscible with 75 per cent alcohol. 
Turmeric (curcumin) is the yellow coloring matter (dye) 
obtained from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa. 
It is not exported from the Philippines at the present time. 
The value of the importations into the United States in 1907 
was 26,252 dollars, the greater part being from Burma. 
Curcuma longa resembles Curcuma zedoaria, but its flowering 
shoot is borne within the tuft of leaves and not directly from 
the rootstock as is that of Curcuma zedoaria. It has 5 or 6 thin, 
smooth, pale-green, pointed leaves, which are about 45 centi- 


* Bacon, R. F., Philippine terpenes and essential oils, IV. Philippine * 
Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 5 (1910), page 262. 
