74 
making brooms. The best native brooms are made however 
from the panicles of Thysanolaena maxima. 
mong the grasses that find more or less use may be mentioned 
Job’s tears, Coix-lachryma-jobt. The hard-shelled seeds are used 
for rosaries or ma to curtains, baskets and trays of various 
kinds. Cogon (Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii; I. exaltata 
is the weed pes he Islan The le plant is used for 
thatch among the very poor. The flower stalks are occasionally 
is “‘cobboot,” Ischaemum angustifolium. Often Filipinos deco- 
rate their houses with such grasses as Apluda mutica, Eleusine 
indica, Ophiuris corymbosus, Erogrostis tenella, E. visco. 
SEDGES 
The Filipinos, except the well-to-do, follow the custom preva- 
lent in the east of sleeping on mats which are placed on the floor 
Samar, Leyte, Mindanao and 4 ay attain a 
height of three meters but the average is one and a half meters 
After the removal of the a ania the sedge is dried with 
proper precautions and manipulated and or ruler to make it 
iable reat s is shown especially in Samar a 
intricate colored des ne in ats. With proper looms this 
material can b n into matting. The sedge is also utilized 
tphylla is also used for mats. The material though finer 
than that obtained from F. alates is considerably stiffer and 
mentioned. C. malaccensis, common along brackish swamps and 
tidal streams not only in the Philippines but also throughout the 
