36 MANGROVE SWAMPS 
fruits are flat. and about 12 centimeters long by 10 centi- 
meters broad. The inflorescence is very characteristic, notably 
the large, globose, fruiting head, which is up to 30 centimeters 
in diameter and borne on a special erect stalk. This plant ap- 
parently has no very definite blooming season, but as a general 
rule, at least in Bulacan and Pampanga Provinces, flowers during 
the months of February and March. It takes about four months 
for the fruit to ripen. 
The methods of cultivation of nipa and its economic value as 
a source of thatching material, alcohol, and sugar are discussed 
in the section on Palms. 
Genus ONCOSPERMA 
ONCOSPERMA FILAMENTOSUM Blume. ANIBONG. 
Local name: Anibong (Tagalog and Bisaya). 
Anibong can be at once recognized by the numerous, long, 
slender, horizontally spreading, stiff, sharp spines borne on the 
trunk throughout its length. 
Like the other species of the genus, this is a rather tall, slender 
palm. It often grows subgregariously in favorable habitats, 
in ravines, or in lowlands back of the mangrove and often within 
the influence of brackish or salt water. The outer part of the 
trunk is very hard and durable; and split into narrow pieces is 
extensively used by the Filipinos, in the regions where it grows, 
for house floors. It is also used for spear shafts. The bud is 
edible, either raw or cooked; while in the Malay Archipelago, 
perhaps also in the Philippines, the fruits are sometimes used as 
a substitute for areca fruits in preparing buyo for chewing. 
Family 3, MELIACEAE 
Genus XYLOCARPUS 
Key to the species. 
Bark light colored, smooth; fruit 17 to 25 centimeters in diameter. 
Xylocarpus granatum. 
Bark dark brown, very rough; fruit about the size of a small orange. 
Xylocarpus moluccensis. 
XYLOCARPUS GRANATUM Koen. (Plate XI). TABIGI. 
Local names: Tabigi (Lanao, Cebu, Tayabas, Guimaras Island, Zam- 
boanga, Negros, Dinagat Island, Camarines, Masbate, Agusan, Sorsogon, 
Leyte, Marinduque, Panay, Basilan, Palawan, Samar, Cotabato, Culion) ; 
pulit (Basilan Island); kulimbdning (Culion Island); tambo-tambo (Zam- 
boanga); lubanayong (Cagayan); nigi (Mindoro, Camarines, Palawan, 
Zambales, Tayabas); piagau (Masbate, Zamboanga). 
