236 PHILIPPINE PALMS 
It is a stout, erect. stately palm reaching a height of 25 to 30 
meters. The trunk is considerably swollen near the base; the 
leaves are crowded at the tip of the stem. This palm is ap- 
parently not naturalized in the Philippines, but is cultivated in 
considerable numbers. 
Genus PHOENIX Linnaeus 
PHOENIX HANCEANA Naudin. var. PHILIPPINENSIS Bece. VorAVol. 
Local name: Voidvoi (Batanes). 
This is the only representative of the genus in the Philippines, 
except the introduced and cultivated Phoenia rupicola T. Anders, 
P. canariensis Hort., and P. dactylifera Linn., and occurs in 
the Archipelago only on the small islands north of Luzon. It 
grows along mountain streams. Locally its leaves are utilized in 
making a peculiar thatched raincoat, extensively used in the 
Batanes Islands. The leaflets are split into shreds and woven 
into an oblong mat, which is hood-like at one end. The long 
free ends of the shreds are arranged like thatch and very 
effectively shed even heavy rain. 
Phoenix rupicola and P. canariensis are recently introduced 
palms now considerably cultivated in Manila for ornamental 
purposes; while old mature trees of the date palm, Phoenia dac- 
tylifera, are occasionally found. There is no record, however, 
that the date palm has ever produced fruit in the Archipelago. 
Genus PINANGA Blume 
(Plate XLIV) 
This genus is represented by over twenty species, none of 
them of economic value. They are all sylvan, pinnate-leaved 
palms, more commonly found at medium and higher elevations 
than at low altitudes. So far as is known, the bud of all the 
species is edible, but as the palms are mostly small and slender 
the edible part of the bud is small. Some of the species, such 
as Pinanga philippinensis Becc., have stems that do not exceed 
2 or 3 centimeters in diameter, while others, such as Pinanga 
insignis Becc., have stems up to 10 or 15 centimeters in diam- 
eter. All the Philippine species are solitary, scattered plants. 
None of them send up shoots from the base. Some are decidedly 
ornamental, but cannot be grown in most Philippine towns 
on account of the difference in climatic conditions between the 
virgin forest at medium and higher altitudes and the open, 
settled areas. The seeds of many, perhaps of all the species, 
