194 PHILIPPINE PALMS 
It then fiowers once and dies, the enormous quantities of stored 
starch being used up during the short fiowering and fruiting 
period. At maturity the leaves wither and there appears an 
enormous, pyramidal, terminal, flowering shoot, which may be 
7 meters in height. 
From an industrial standpoint the buri palm is one of great 
local importance. A fermented drink or palm wine (tuba), 
alcohol, vinegar, syrup, and sugar are produced from the sap. 
The trunk yields large quantities of food material in the form 
of starch. The buds (ubud) are used for salads or as a vegetable. 
The kernels of the young fruits are edible and are made into 
sweetmeats; while Blanco states that the outer covering of the 
mature fruit is eaten by birds and sometimes by children. The 
mature seeds are used for beads (rosaries) and buttons. The 
wood is practically valueless. The leaf is of special importance. 
The petiole yields the so-called buntal fiber of which the famous 
Lucban hats are made; or which, when crudely extracted, is some- 
times twisted into rope. The mature leaf is used for covering 
tobacco bales, rarely as a thatch for houses, while the ribs are 
used for making brooms. From the unopened leaf is obtained a 
very fine fiber, corresponding to raffia fiber, which is utilized in 
making cloth, fancy articles, and as string. Fibers secured 
from the ribs of the unopened leaves are extensively used in the 
manufacture of the so-called Calasiao or Pototan hats. Strips 
of the unopened leaf are made into hats, mats, bags, sails, bas- 
kets, and other articles. 
TABLE III.—Stand of buri palms (Corypha elata) on five blocks, aggregating 
4585 hectares in the Rio Chico region of Luzon. Data from report 
by Ranger Rola. 
[Plants per block.] 











| | 
Size of plant. | 
(Figures represent number of trees per block). | 
: Total 
k. 
Number of Area of Area ay ehout ican plants 
block. block. surveyed. SS > + on one 
| aan : block. 
| Height in meters. Withtrunk. 
| |Lessthanl.| 1to2. Morethan2. 
ee pe AE ieee } a | | Eta |e —_ 2a SASS 
Hectare. | Hectare. | | 
i he ee eee ee 1,795 0.5 538, 500 721,590 3,582,560 17, 950 | 4,810, 600 
Qe sSe seen se 386 2 32, 810 | 38, 600 203, 422 386 275, 218 
| Bien aie toh 1, 109 0.5 166,350 | 609,950 1, 187, 834 4, 436 | 1,918,570 | 
ete ee ee 919 0.3 | 218,722} 183,800 | 904,296 |___--._____. 1,306,818 
| (te eee 376 0.4 151, 152 T5LS 152 590, 320 1,880 | 894,504 l 
| Total___ 4, 585 2.9 1,107,534 | 1,705,092 | 6,368, 432 24, 652 | 9,205, 710 

