Many Philippine mat materials have been described in a former publication on hats.[1] Only additional and new information is written here and such data from Bulletin 33 as are necessary to make a connected article.[2]
Buri Straw.
The Buri Palm.
There are about six species of the genus Corypha in tropical Asia, but only one of these is found in the Philippines; this is Corypha elata, the buri palm.[3] It is widely distributed throughout the Philippines but is most abundant in the central part of the Pampanga valley and in southern Tayabas.
Plate XXVIII. Foliage of the buri palm.
Mr. C. W. Franks, formerly Division Superintendent of Schools for Mindoro Province, had a careful estimate made by his teaching force of the stands of buri palms on the Island of Mindoro. It was found that 5,000 hectares of land on this island are covered by 2,000,000 buri palms, of which 225,000, or about 12 per cent, are mature trees.
The Island of Burias, the Isla Verde, and other small islands are fairly covered with the palm. The Province of Sorsogon, including the Island of Masbate, is also well supplied. In the Visayas there are districts in Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol, where many buri trees are found.
The buri is the largest palm that grows in the Philippines, attaining a height of 20 meters. Its trunk is very erect, spirally ridged and up to 0.7 meter in diameter. Its wood is of no commercial value.