DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 383 
This species is widely distributed in the Philippines in open, 
low grasslands and waste places. 
CORCHORUS OLITORIUS L. PASAU or JUTE. 
Local names: Pasau (Zambales, Tagalog); saliyot, saluyut or saloyot 
(Ilocos Sur, Union, Pangasinan) ; tagabang (Manila, Bisaya) ; taka magin- 
danau, yaka (Cotabato). 
Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis are grown in 
India on a large scale to furnish most of the jute of commerce. 
Corchorus olitorius is found in all tropical countries, but it is 
only in India that the fibers are extracted in commercial quan- 
tities. King tested rope made from the crude bast of wild 
Philippine plants and found it to have a tensile strength of 503 
kilos per square centimeter. Wetting decreased the strength 
28 per cent. 
In the Philippines the plant is better known as a vegetable, 
the leaves being edible, than on account of its fibers. 
Corchorus olitorius is a smooth, erect, half-woody shrub, 1 to 
1.5 meters in height. The leaves are pointed at the tip and have 
tail-like projections at the base. The flowers are small and 
yellow. The fruit is a rather slender pod about 3 to 3.5 centi- 
meters long. 
Corchorus olitorius is a weed found in wet places in the 
settled areas of the Philippines. 
Genus DIPLODISCUS 
DIPLODISCUS PANICULATUS Turcz. BALOBO. 
Local names: Balobé (Rizal, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas, Camarines, 
Agusan, Cotabato, Basilan, Zamboanga); barobé (Camarines) ; barubo, ki- 
déng (Cagayan); bulugai (Cotabato); buru, bukad (Lanao); maobo (Ce- 
bu); maramani, manaring (Isabela); marubd (Samar, Leyte, Albay, 
Ticao Island, Masbate, Iling Island); mayubéd (Antique); muling-muling 
(Tayabas); puyzs (Laguna); talu-talu, mangalri, tagpdn, dupdupan 
(Zamboanga). 
The bast of this species is sometimes used for making rope. 
The bast is, however, small in amount and difficult to extract, 
and so is seldom employed. 
Diplodiscus paniculatus is a tree reaching a height of about 20 
meters and a diameter of about 80 centimeters. The leaves are 
alternate, smooth, pointed at both ends, and from about 12 to 25 
centimeters in length. The flowers are rather small, whitish or 
yellowish, and borne on large compound inflorescences. The 
fruit is edible. 
This species is very common and widely distributed in the 
forests from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao. In some 
places it is the most numerous under-story tree in the forest. 
It is not cultivated except at the Lamao Experiment Station. 
