62 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- 

 rocarpns 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 gy^andiflorus 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: Afu (Ilocos Norte); apitojig (Mindoro, Polillo, Bataan, 

 Tayabas, Marinduque, Leyte, Laguna, Samar) ; haldu (Rizal, Zamboanga) ; 

 duen, lamilan (Isabela) ; gan-dn (Camarines) ; kalusiiban (Ilocos Sur) ; 

 kamuyau, kiirimau, pagsaingin, pamarnisen (Cagayan) ; laudn (Negros, 

 Rizal, Nueva Ecija) ; Hpot or Kpns (Agusan) ; Hpus (Surigao) ; malapdho 

 (Polillo) ; matatalma (Zamboanga) ; padsahingin (Laguna) ; pamantulen 

 (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 Dipterocarpiis grandifloriis, 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,t 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. 



t Clover, A. M., Philippine wood oils. Philippine Journal of Science, 

 Section A, Volume 1 (1906), page 198. 



