DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 231 
SUGAR 
It is possible that the nipa palm may prove to be a profitable 
commercial source of sugar. This subject has been quite ex- . 
tensively investigated by chemists of the Bureau of Science,* 
with the following general results: With a normal average sap 
flow of from 30 to 50 liters per plant per day over a period of 
three months, with a sap-collecting period of six months, and 
with an average of 750 bearing trees per hectare, it was found 
that one hectare would produce an average quantity of 30,000 
liters of sap. The cost of collecting and delivery at a sugar 
mill was found to be about 3.00 pesos per 1,000 liters, and the 
sugar yield about 115 kilos of commercial white sugar, polarizing 
at 99° or above, per 1,000 liters of sap. The palm juice has 
the advantage over cane juice in that it is free from acids, 
waxes, etc., is colorless, with no debris and, when fresh, with 
no invert sugar. The chief difficulty in utilizing nipa as a 
source of sugar lies in the fact that, normally, fermentation com- 
mences with the flow of sap from the cut peduncle; that enzymes 
are present in the sap which will in time cause the complete 
inversion of the sucrose, and that it is difficult to prevent this 
inversion. With the use of a modified type of container for 
gathering the sap, freshly lined with lime cream and sulphite, 
fermentation and inversion can be prevented or inhibited for 
at least twelve hours, thus allowing sufficient time to collect and 
deliver the sap without undue loss of sucrose. 
Genus ONCOSPERMA Blume 
This genus is represented by four closely allied species, all 
similar in appearance. They are Oncosperma platyphyllum 
Becc. and O. gracilipes Becc., both endemic, and the more widely 
distributed Malayan species O. horridum Scheff. and O. filamen- 
tosum Blume. Among all the erect palms of the Philippines, 
Oncosperma can be at once recognized by the numerous, long, 
slender, horizontally spreading, stiff, sharp spines borne on the 
trunk throughout its length. 
Conspectus of the species. 
a’. Gregarious. Floriferous branches of the spadix numerous, long, slender, 
and inserted at different levels on the rachis. Male flowers with 6 
stamens. Fruit small, spherical, 11 to 12 mm in diameter. 
1. O. filamentosum. 

* Gibbs, H. D., The alcohol industry of the Philippine Islands. Part I. 
Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 6 (1911), pages 99 to 206. 
* Pratt, D. S., Thurlow, L. W., Williams, R. R., and Gibbs, H. D., The 
nipa palm as a commercial source of sugar. Philippine Journal of Science, 
Section A, Volume 8 (1913), pages 377 to 398. 
