74 



making brooms. The best native brooms are made however 

 from the panicles of Thysanolaena maxima. 



Among the grasses that find more or less use may be mentioned 

 Job's tears, Coix-lachryma-jobi. The hard-shelled seeds are used 

 for rosaries or made into curtains, baskets and trays of various 

 kinds. Cogon {Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii; I. exaltata) 

 is the weed pest in the Islands. The whole plant is used for 

 thatch among the very poor. The flower stalks are occasionally 

 used for hats. A grass that has been found excellent for slippers 

 is "cobboot," Ischaemum angicstifolium. Often Filipinos deco- 

 rate their houses with such grasses as Apluda miUica, Eleusine 

 indica, Ophiuris corymhosus, Erogrostis tenella, E. viscosa. 



Sedges 



The Filipinos, except the well-to-do, follow the custom preva- 

 lent in the east of sleeping on mats which are placed on the floor 

 at night and rolled up and put out of sight in the morning. 

 These mats are made as a rule of pandan or sedges. The sedge 

 most commonly used for this purpose is Fimbristylis utilis. 

 This plant is found growing wild and in great abundance in and 

 around the rice paddies in parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. 

 It reaches its greatest economic importance on the islands of 

 Samar, Leyte, Mindanao and Bohol. F. utilis may attain a 

 height of three meters but the average is one and a half meters. 

 After the removal of the inflorescence the sedge is dried with 

 proper precautions and manipulated by hand or ruler to make it 

 pliable. Great skill is shown especially in Samar in weaving 

 intricate colored designs into mats. With proper looms this 

 material can be woven into matting. The sedge is also utilized 

 locally for the making of hats. 



F. diphylla is also used for mats. The material though finer 

 than that obtained from F. utilis is considerably stifl'er and 

 shorter and consequently is not considered as good a mat fiber. 



In various parts of the Islands occurs Cyperus radiatus, which 

 is utilized for mats but to a less degree than the sedges previously 

 mentioned. C. malaccensis, common along brackish swamps and 

 tidal streams not only in the Philippines but also throughout the 



