No other fruit serves the people in so many ways. The juice is relished as a drink, the meat as a food, the oil as a food and hair dressing; the shells serve as dishes and cups, or are carved into ladles, while the fibrous covering of the nut is converted into foot wipers, thread brushes, and the like.
The betel-nut, bwa (Areca catechu L.), is also found in some villages, particularly in the mountains. It is a tall, slender palm which yields the nut so prized throughout the Islands for chewing.
Mango-treees, mangga (Mangifera indica L.) appear here and there in valleys and on mountain sides, where the seeds have doubtless been carried by birds or travelers, but considerable groves are found in many districts. The fruit is picked before it is ripe, and is eaten as it becomes mellow.
Other trees and shrubs which are occasionally planted are: Atis (Anona squamosa L., an American plant) prized both for its fruit and bark—the latter being used in rope-making.
Atatawa (Jathropha multifida L.). Also found in a wild state. The fruit is used as a purgative. The Jathropha curcas L. is also used.
Daligan (Averrhoa carambola L.) or Coromandel gooseberry. The fruit is eaten without cooking.
Lanka (Artocarpus integrifola L.). Jackfruit.
Maling-kapas or kapas to insit (Ceiba pantadra Gaertn.), also known by the Ilocano as kapas sanglay. This so-called “Chinese cotton” is a small tree with few, but perfectly straight, branches, which radiate from the trunk in horizontal lines. It produces elliptical pods which burst open when ripe, exposing a silky white cotton. The fiber is too short for spinning, but is used as tinder and as stuffing for pillows.
Orange (lokban) and lime (lolokīsen) trees are greatly prized, but Page 406appear only occasionally. They receive no care, and consequently yield only inferior fruit.
The pias (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) is a garden tree which produces an acid fruit used in cooking.