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tender pinnae of the young leaves are smoothed out, dried, 
cut into short lengths and used for rolling the ,rokos” or ciga- 
rettes used by the natives of Borneo and many other parts 
of Malaya. 
The flower-stalk is often tapped and runs a kind of sweet 
sap, which makes a refreshing drink. It is sometimes boiled 
down for the purpose of obtaining syrup and sugar. The most 
extensive use of this sap is in the making of alcohol. Primi- 
tive stills are used but the total output is great. During the 
past year, revenue was paid on more than 7,700,000 proof- 
litres of nipa-alcohol produced in the Philippines. 
The leaves are also used as a source of salt, being burned 
and the salt extracted from the ashes. The hard and woody 
leaf bases are often used for fuel and as floats for fishing nets. 
The young fruits make an acceptable article of food. 
Oncosperma filamentosa BI. Nibong. 
Borneo. 
This palm occurs in more or less scattered fashion in the 
mangrove in Borneo. It is very conspicuous by reason of its 
very slender tall stem and the small cluster of leaves which 
it bears at a level far above that of the surrounding forest. 
The stem is used for house posts, piling and, in split lengths, 
for flooring and partitions. 
The terminal bud, which is very generally known as ,umbut”, 
(Malay or ,ubud” (Phil.), is often cooked and eaten or made 
into delicious salads without cooking. The same name is applied 
to the terminal bud in other palms; but, the nibong is most 
common and widely known for this product. 
Metroaylon Rumphit Mart. and Licuala spinosa Wurmb., although 
not regularly part of the mangrove, do occasionally invade it. 
Phoenix paludosa Roxb. is reported by Kurz as occurring in 
the mangrove-swamps of Burma. 
