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Nibong wood is also used for spears, and such like instruments. 
The closely allied Bayas, Oncospefma horrida, Bl. is distin- 
guished at sight by its leaflets not being deflexed but spreading and 
its larger fruit. It has much softer useless wood. 
The trunks of the big fan palms Livistona Kingii “Serdang” 
and Pkolidocarpus macrocarpa , Kupau, being very hard outside 
are used for piles for wharfs,, as they resist the water for a long 
time. The trees attain a great height, about So feet, with smooth 
trunks, about 6 or 8 inches through. As in most palms, the outside 
of the trunk is the hard part, the inner portion being soft and 
pithy. The stems are very heavy and the hard wood very dark 
in colour. 
The outer portion of the stem of Arenga is very hard and durable 
also, and in some places the trunk is split and the soft parts scooped 
out/ and the hard portion usad for water conduits. 
The stems of the Betel-nut Areca catechu , L. are valued for fish- 
ing stakes. 
Pandanea:. 
The leaves of several of the larger Pandans are used for roofing, 
mats, and such like work. 
Pandanus atrocarpus Griff. “ Mengkuang ” . 
A very large species attaining a height of 40 feet with very long 
leaves, fruit dark brown, in cylindrical heads, 7 on a raceme, is 
perhaps the most important species. The leaves are used for 
coverings of ox carts (Kajangs) matting, and hats There is a 
regular demand for the leaves and many natives make a living by 
cutting and drying them and working them up. 
P. fascicular is , “Pandan Duri”. 
A shorter bushy pandan with narrower leaves and large globose 
heads of fruits, orange or red in colour, is abundant along the sea 
coast and is also commonly cultivated near villages for its leaves. 
These are used for all the finer class of matting and baskets, ciga- 
rette cases and such work and also for roofing (ataps). The 
leaves after collecting are prepared by cutting off the thorny edges, 
and dried For attaps they are merely folded over a stick and 
sewn with a short slip of rattan. For matting they are cut into 
slips of the required width. 
Gramine/e. 
The only group of importance as timber, etc. is that of the 
Bamboos (. Bambusew ). , . ,, 
The wild Bamboos here are not very numerous, but there are 
patches of Bamboo forest here and there in the Peninsula espe- 
cially oh the upper parts of the hills in Selangor and I erak 1 he 
neater number of the indigenous species are small 01 slender, 
often scandent kinds. Several introduced species are cultivated 
or have been planted in various places, and remain long after cul- 
tivation has been abandoned. . J „ , 
The Bamboo forests of the interior chiefly consist of Oxytenan- 
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