388 PHILIPPINE FIBER PLANTS 
Malachra capitata is a coarse, erect annual 0.5 to 2 meters 
in height and is covered with very coarse hair. The leaves 
are alternate, from 5 to 15 centimeters in diameter, somewhat 
rounded, and slightly lobed. The base is heart-shaped. The 
petals are yellow and about 1 centimeter long. 
This species is common in waste places throughout the 
Philippines. It is a native of tropical America. 
MALACHRA FASCIATA Turcz. PAANG-BALIWIS. 
Local names: Anndbo (Union); bakembdkes (Itneg, Ilocano) ; malabitis- 
papa (Bataan); pdang-baliwis (Tagalog). 
The bast of this species is colored olive buff. A strong rope 
used for clotheslines and general purposes is made from it. 
The bast is prepared by retting. The entire plant is cut and 
kept in fresh water for about ten days, after which the bast 
is easily stripped and the fiber largely freed from extraneous 
matter by washing. King found the rope to have a tensile 
strength of 637 kilos per square centimeter, which wetting 
decreased 15 per cent. 
Malachra fasciata is a coarse, half-woody herb reaching a 
height of 0.5 to 1 meter. The leaves are 10 to 15 centimeters 
long, very hairy, have a rounded base, and are cut nearly to the 
base into five narrow lobes which have toothed margins. The 
corolla is pink and about 1 centimeter long. 
The species is a native of tropical America, but is now tho- 
roughly naturalized and widely distributed in the Philippines 
at low altitudes, and is locally very abundant in wet places. 
Genus MALVASTRUM 
MALVASTRUM COROMANDELINUM Garke. SALSALUYUT. 
Local names: Babara (Pangasinan); gagabiten (Union); sal-saliyut 
(Union) ; tachin-kabayo (Batanes Islands); takim-bdka (Ilocos Norte). 
The stems of this plant are used in making brooms. 
Malvastrum coromandelinum is an erect, somewhat hairy, 
branched, half-woody perennial, 1 meter or less in height. The 
leaves are 2 to 5 centimeters long, the apex pointed, the base 
usually rounded, the margins irregularly toothed. The flowers 
are yellow with petals about 8 millimeters long. The fruit 
consists of eight to twelve kidney-shaped divisions, 2 to 3 milli- 
meters long, and has three short, straight projections. 
This species is a native of tropical America, but is now widely 
distributed in the tropics of both hemispheres. It is common 
in waste places throughout the Philippines. 
