368 PHILIPPINE FIBER PLANTS 
almost pure stands over large areas. It is a common second- 
growth tree at low altitudes throughout the Philippines. 
Family MORACEAE 
Genus ALLAEANTHUS 
ALLAEANTHUS GLABER Warb. MALAMBINGAN. 
Local names: Alokon, bungon (Benguet, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra) ; 
alibabag (Cagayan, Itneg); alibabdi (Cagayan); alitagtdg, balitagtdg 
(Camarines); alokon, baeg, bongon (Pangasinan); babayan, imkabaé 
(Nueva Ecija); kabdg (Mindoro, Misamis); kariid (Misamis) ; liba (Da- 
vao); malakadiés (Masbate) ; malambingan (Basilan). 
The crude bast of this tree shows great variations in color 
and size. Rope made from it is very weak. King found it to 
have a tensile strength of 231 kilos per square centimeter. 
Wetting increased the strength 10 per cent. This rope is said 
to be more durable than the average during the wet season. 
Young leaves and flowers of this species are cooked for food. 
Allaeanthus glaber is a medium-sized tree reaching a height 
of 30 meters and a diameter of 60 centimeters. The leaves 
are alternate, 5 to 15 centimeters long, the apex pointed, the 
base somewhat rounded. 
This species is distributed from northern Luzon to Basilan. 
Genus ANTIARIS 
ANTIARIS TOXICARIA Lesch. LATA or UPAS-TREE. 
Local names: Dalit (Tagalog in Mindoro); dita (Cagayan, Apayao) ; 
lata (Cagayan); salogon (Bisaya in Mindoro). 
Concerning the fiber Watt * says: 
The natives strip the bark of this tree into large pieces, soak them 
in water, and beat them well, when a good white fibre is obtained—a 
natural cloth worn by the natives. It is in Western India well known 
as the sacking tree, on acount of the tough, inner, fibrous, felted bark, 
being removed entire, thus forming natural sacks. Small branches are 
made into legs of trousers and arms of coats, the larger ones forming 
the bodies of the garments. In this way felt costumes are made which 
require no more sewing than is necessary to connect the parts together. 
If passed through rollers, and at the same time dyed and tanned, these 
natural cloths or felts are very interesting. The samples exhibited at 
the late Calcutta International Exhibition (contributed by the Bombay 
Committee) were very much admired, and proved very attractive. In 
making sacks sometimes a disk of the wood is left attached to the fibre 
so as to form the bottom of the sack. At other times a vertical incision 
is made on the tree and a transverse cut around the stem at the top and 
bottom of this vertical one. The bark is then peeled off, and after being 
beaten in water and dried, the top and bottom are sewed up (forming 
the sides of the sack). These sacks are extensively used for storing rice. 



* Watt, Dictionary of the economic products of India, Volume I, page 268. 
