3838 MANGROVE SWAMPS 
This is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching a diameter of 
100 centimeters, with thin, smooth, and light-colored bark. The 
bark contains a large amount of tannin. The inner bark is dark 
red and furnishes a dark-red dye. The trunk is usually crooked 
and very often rotten. The roots frequently extend for a con- 
siderable distance through the mud. They are crooked, and the 
projecting parts are very narrow on top. 
The wood is moderately hard and moderately heavy. The 
sapwood is small in amount, whitish; the heartwood red. The 
grain is straight or slightly crossed; the texture fine and glossy. 
The wood seasons very well, shrinking little and checking or 
warping hardly at all; works easily. It is rarely, if ever, at- 
tacked by beetles. It is used for poles; ties; posts; beams, joists, 
rafters; doors; flooring; all interior finish; high-grade furniture 
and cabinetwork; among the best and most beautiful cabinet 
woods in the Islands. 
The leaves are alternate and compound with one to three 
pairs of leaflets. The flowering branches are usually from 3.5 
to 7 centimeters in length. The flowers are about 6 millimeters 
long. The stalks are from 7 to 13 millimeters in length. The 
calyx has four rounded lobes. The four petals are much longer 
than the calyx, rounded, the edges overlapping. The fruit is 
from 17 to 25 centimeters in diameter and round, with a thick, 
corky, leathery covering, which usually splits into four pieces as 
the fruit dries. The fruit contains a number of corky, more 
or less pyramidal seeds, which float, with the small end up, until 
after germination. 
XYLOCARPUS MOLUCCENSIS (Lam.) M. Roem. (Plate XII). PIAGAU. 
Local names: Piagdu (Mindoro, Zamboanga, Negros, Cotabato, Palawan, 
Guimaras Island); lagut-ut (Guimaras Island) ; tabigi or tibigi (Mindoro 
and Cotabato); puyugdu (Ticao Island); sangkuyong (Moro and Jolo) ; 
piadak (Palawan). 
This species differs from the last in being straighter and 
taller ; with dark, flaky bark; smaller fruits, about the size of an 
orange; and erect air roots. The wood is generally a little 
harder and darker in color than that of Xylocarpus granatum. 
The heartwood at the base of the trunk is often rotten. This 
tree reaches a diameter of 65 centimeters. The wood has the 
same uses as that of Xylocarpus granatum. 
The leaves are compound, with two or three pairs of leaflets. 
The flowering branches are slender and from 7 to 25 centimeters 
in length. The flowers are similar to those of Xylocarpus gra- 
natum, but have rather broader petals and a shorter style. The 
fruit is rounded and about the size of a small orange. 
