72 PHILIPPINE FIBER PLANTS 



small and greenish, and borne on inflorescences which are 

 opposite the leaves or terminate the branches. The fruit is 

 fleshy, purple, about 6 millimeters long, and with a single seed. 

 This species is distributed from the Mountain Province of 

 Luzon to southern Mindanao. 



Family SAPINDACEAE 



Genus SAPINDUS 

 SARIN DUS SAPONARIA L. TiKASTlKAS. 



Local names: Amugduen (Union) ; kasibai, kasiboen (Ilocos Norte) ; 

 katikis (Bataan) ; teka-teka (Pangasinan, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas) ; 

 tekistekis (Rizal) ; tikas-tikas (Laguna) ; kusibeng (Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, 

 Abra, Union) ; mamaUs (Pampanga) ; malahito (Nueva Ecija) ; palikpik- 

 hito (Nueva Ecija, Pampanga), 



According to Dodge :^' *'The bast of this species yields a 

 coarse fiber, suitable for native cordage." 



The bark is used for washing the hair. Tobacco workers in 

 Abra use the crushed leaves for removing the stain of tobacco 

 leaves from their hands. 



Sapindus saponaria is a tree reaching a height of about 20 

 meters and a diameter of about 60 centimeters. The leaves 

 are alternate, smooth, and compound, the main stalk is expanded 

 and leaf-like. The flowers are small, white, and are borne in 

 considerable numbers on compound inflorescences. The fruits 

 are rounded and about 1.5 centimeters in length. 



This species is distributed from northern Luzon to Mindanao. 



Family RHAMNACEAE 



Genus ALPHITONIA 



ALPHITONIA EXCELSA Reiss. 



Local names: Anildu (Guimaras Island); dunglu (Mindoro) ; tangguldi 

 (Mindoro) ; tulo (Samar) ; uakdtan (Surigao). 



The bark of this tree is used for making rope. 



Alphitonia excelsa is a tree which reaches a height of 20 

 meters. It has alternate, hairy, narrow leaves which are pointed 

 at the apex, rounded at the base, about 9 centimeters long, and 

 5 centimeters broad. The flowers are small and borne on com- 

 pound, axillary or terminal inflorescences. The fruits are 

 somev/hat rounded, black, and over a centimeter in diameter. 



This species is distributed in forests from northern Luzon 

 to Mindanao. 



* Dodge, C. R., A descriptive catalogue of useful fiber plants of the 

 world. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Fiber investigations. Report 

 No. 9, page 290. 



