222 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



According to Gildermeister-Kremers * patchouli alcohol, 

 C,-H.,;0, is an odorless constituent of patchouli oil, from which 

 it separates in crystals that melt at 56 . 



Pogostemon cablin is an erect, branched, hairy herb .5 to 1 

 meter in height. It is aromatic when crushed. The leaves are 

 opposite, pointed at the tip, and usually obtusely pointed at the 

 broad base. The margins are coarsely and doubly toothed. 

 The flowers are borne in terminal and axillary spikes which are 

 2 to 8 centimeters long and 1 to 2.5 centimeters in diameter. 

 The corolla is pink-purple and 8 millimeters long. 



This species is found throughout the Philippines in cultiva- 

 tion and is also wild. There seems to be a great deal of un- 

 certainty as to the original home of Pogostemon cablin. It is 

 cultivated in many parts of the Indo-Malayan region, but ap- 

 parently rarely, if ever, flowers in India, Ceylon, Singapore, 

 and Java. It appears to produce flowers freely only in the 

 Philippines. 



Family COMPOSITAE 



Genus BLUMEA 



BLUMEA BALSAM I FERA DC. (Fig. 73). Sambong. 



Local names: Alibhon (Negros) ; alimon (Negros) ; bukadkdd (Samar) ; 

 kalibon (Cuyo Islands) ; kalibura (Palawan) ; lakadbulan (Camarines) ; 

 sambon (Zamboanga) ; sambong (Tarlac, Bataan, Bulacan, Manila, Pa- 

 lawan, Laguna, Mindoro, Basilan, Tayabas, Zambales, Batangas, Rizal, 

 Balabac Island, Misamis) ; sobosob (Ilocos Norte and Sur, Abra, Panga- 

 sinan) ; takamain (Davao). 



Sambong Oil 



The leaves of Blumea halsamifera are used locally for poisoning 

 fishes, and medicinally for a number of purposes. The roots are 

 also utilized medicinally. 



Bacon f distilled the leaves of this plant and obtained a yield 

 of from 0.1 to 0.4 per cent of a yellow oil with a camphor-like 

 odor. This oil was almost pure 1-borneol. As this substance 

 readily oxidizes to camphor, the oil, according to Bacon, should 

 be valued at from one-half to three-fourths of the price of the 

 camphor. Bacon estimates that the leaves could be cut four 

 times a year. According to some experiments made in Indo- 

 China, % it is possible to obtain 50,000 kilos of leaves per hectare 



* Gildermeister, E. and Kremers, E., The volatile oils, (1913). 



t Bacon, R. F., Philippine terpenes and essential oils, III. Philippine 

 Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 4 (1909), page 127. 



J Lan, M. M., Camphus du Tonkin. Bulletin Economique, Gouvernement 

 General de L'indo-Chine. New Series Volume 9 (1907), page 192. 



