DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 75 



This species is widely distributed in the Philippines in open, 

 low grasslands and waste places. 



CORCHORUS OLITORIUS L. Pasau or JuTE. 



Local names: Pdsau (Zambales, Tagalog) ; salnyot, saluyut or saloyot 

 (Ilocos Sur, Union, Pangasinan) ; tagabang (Manila, Bisaya) ; taka magin- 

 ddnau, yaka (Cotabato). 



Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis are grown in 

 India on a large scale to furnish most of the jute of commerce. 

 Corchorus olitorius is found in all tropical countries, but it is 

 only in India that the fibers are extracted in commercial quan- 

 tities. King tested rope made from the crude bast of wild 

 Philippine plants and found it to have a tensile strength of 503 

 kilos per square centimeter. Wetting decreased the strength 

 28 per cent. 



In the Philippines the plant is better known as a vegetable, 

 the leaves being edible, than on account of its fibers. 



Corchorus olitorius is a smooth, erect, half-woody shrub, 1 to 

 1.5 meters in height. The leaves are pointed at the tip and have 

 tail-like projections at the base. The flowers are small and 

 yellow. The fruit is a rather slender pod about 3 to 3.5 centi- 

 meters long. 



Corchorus olitorius is a weed found in wet places in the 

 settled areas of the Philippines. 



Genus DIPLODISCUS 

 Dl PLOD ISC US PANICULATUS Turcz. Balobo. 



Local names: Balobo (Rizal, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas, Camarines, 

 Agusan, Cotabato, Basilan, Zamboanga) ; barobo (Camarines) ; barubo, ki- 

 deng (Cagayan) ; bulugai (Cotabato) ; biwu, bukad (Lanao) ; maobo (Ce- 

 bu) ; maramani, manaring (Isabela) ; mariibo (Samar, Leyte, Albay, 

 Ticao Island, Masbate, Iling Island) ; mayubo (Antique) ; muling -muling 

 (Tayabas); puyus (Laguna); talu-talu, mangalri, tagpdn, dupdupan 

 (Zamboanga). 



The bast of this species is sometimes used for making rope. 

 The bast is, however, small in amount and difficult to extract, 

 and so is seldom employed. 



Diplodiscus paniculatus is a tree reaching a height of about 20 

 meters and a diameter of about 80 centimeters. The leaves are 

 alternate, smooth, pointed at both ends, and from about 12 to 25 

 centimeters in length. The flowers are rather small, whitish or 

 yellowish, and borne on large compound inflorescences. The 

 fruit is edible. 



This species is very common and widely distributed in the 

 forests from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao. In some 

 places it is the most numerous under-story tree in the forest. 

 It is not cultivated except at the Lamao Experiment Station. 



