The Padre explained: “That’s the valuable mahogany. Thin strips of it are polished, and used to cover the woodwork of your piano and bureau at home.”
“And this other wonderful, new tree?” I asked.
“That is the molave. It is so hard that sea worms and white ants cannot bore into it. So it is good for boats, wharves, and frames for big buildings,” replied the Padre.
“Here is a pretty tree,” remarked Filippa.
“You should think so,” answered her father. “It is the lanete. Its wood is so strong and pliable, that your violin was made from part of one.”
“Here’s a skipping rope,” exclaimed Filippa.
“No, a boat rope,” explained Fil.
“That is really the bejuco rattan vine,” remarked the Padre, who knew botany and the lore of nature. “It is three hundred feet long, as long as a city block, if you pull it out of the jungle and away from the tree tops, where it has climbed like a huge snake. We can use it for bridge or carriage ropes, or we can divide the strands and make cloth, or hats, or cord out of it.”
“What gorgeous and sweet-scented flowers,” exclaimed Filippa, pointing to a great tree.
“That is the Ylang,” said the Padre. “Our friend uses its perfume on his handkerchief; but he did not know, perhaps, that the flower grew in the far-away Philippines. It has the deepest fragrance of any flower, whether on plant, bush, or tree.”