2012 December » Balinghasai Farms

Symphorema luzonicum

What we grow No Responses »

Dec 312012

Specimen : Wild

Habitat : Moist thickets

Local name : Malasiad, Mulawin-baging

Botanical name : Symphorema luzonicum

Family : Lamiaceae

Height : 4-8 meters

Fruiting season : May - June

Traits : Lowland species; Scandent shrub or woody climber

Recommendations : Home gardens; Landscaping; Ornamental vine; Public spaces; Urban greening

Native range : The Philippines

National conservation status : Not threatened

Threats : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, commercial or residential use

Further readings :

INTERNET ARCHIVE - Full text of “Phytologia” http://www.archive.org/stream/phytologia02glea/phytologia02glea_djvu.txt

Philippinean Ecosystems http://www.terrestrial-biozones.net/Paleotropic%20Ecosystems/Philippinean%20Ecosystems.html

VIETNAM PLANT DATA CENTER - The diversity of the flora of Vietnam 14. Symphorema Roxb. and S. involucratum Roxb., a new genus and species occurrence for the flora http://botanyvn.com/cnt.asp?param=news&newsid=505&lg=en (647)

Veitchia merrillii

What we grow No Responses »

Dec 202012

Happy holidays everyone!

Specimen : Cultivated

Local name : Bungang-Jolo

Trade names : Manila palm, Christmas palm

Botanical name : Veitchia merrillii

Family : Arecaceae

Specimen height : Up to 5 meters

Fruiting season : Matured fruits observed from December through January

Traits : Fast growing; Small tree

Recommendations : Coastal stabilization in areas where this species is native; Farms; Home gardens; Landscaping; Living fence; Ornamental palm; Potted; Public spaces; Urban greening

Native range : The Philippines

National conservation status : Endangered species (DENR AO 2007-1)

Note : Synonymous to Adonidia merrillii

Further readings :

DENR Administrative Order 2007-1 (Establishing the National List of Threatened Philippine Plants and their Categories, and the List of Other Wildlife Species)

Veitchia merrillii Christmas Palm (E. F. Gilman & D. G. Watson) http://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/veimera.pdf

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Abrus precatorius

What we grow No Responses »

Dec 192012

Specimen : Wild and domesticated

Observed habitats : Riverine forest and bamboo thickets

Local name : Saga-saga

Trade names : Jequirity, Precatory bean

Botanical name : Abrus precatorius

Family : Fabaceae

Height : 4-6 meters

Fruiting season : Fruits observed in February and July (possibly year round)

Traits : Fast-growing; Prolific fruiter; Woody climber

Recommendation : Wildcrafting

Used for : Leaves, seeds and roots are employed in traditional medicine; Leaves or roots are used as substitute for liquorice; Seeds used in making ornaments and ethnic-styled jewelries

Native range : Africa, tropical Asia (including the Philippines), Australia to the Pacific Islands

National conservation status : Not threatened

(Notes : Seeds highly toxic)

Further readings :

Bureau of Plant Industry Medicinal Plants Publication (Abrus precatorius) http://www.bpi.da.gov.ph/Publications/mp/pdf/s/saga.pdf

PROSEA (Abrus precatorius) http://www.proseanet.org/prosea/e-prosea_detail.php?frt=&id=124 (604)

Native wild edible : Alpinia elegans

Native wild edibles, What we grow No Responses »

Dec 122012

The original fruit samples of this one were from Mr. Edmund Sana of the Dept. of Agriculture; we fondly called him “Sir” or “Kuya Ed”; a very generous guy who finds enjoyment in giving out planting materials to fellow members at the Rarefruit Society of the Philippines.

Materials identified by : Ulysses Ferreras (Field Botanist)

Specimen : Wild & Cultivated

Habitat : Along creeks

Local names : Tagbak, Tugbak

Botanical name : Alpinia elegans

Family : Zingiberaceae

Height : 2-3 meters

Fruiting season : Matured fruits observed in March

Traits : Herbaceous; Low to medium altitude species; Rhizomous; Thicket-forming; Tolerant of frequent inundation

Recommendations : Fruit collector’s; Ornamental plant; Public gardens; Wildcrafting

Used for : Fruit rind edible but a little woody in texture; Rhizomes, leaves and juice of the stem are used in traditional medicine

Native range : The Philippines

National conservation status : Not threatened

Possible threats : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, commercial or residential use; Water pollutants and runoffs

(Note : Synonymous to Kolowratia elegans)

Native wild edible : Diospyros blancoi

Native wild edibles, What we grow No Responses »

Dec 102012

I’ve been reading but correct me if I’m wrong : Diospyros blancoi is not Diospyros philippinensis and these two are often confused as one and the same. Reliable literatures suggest that they are separate species. Diospyros blancoi, however, is synonymous to Diospyros philippensis and Diospyros discolor. The mistaken identity may have been caused by the absence of available images of Diospyros philippinensis in books and online and also the accidental rhyming of Diospyros philippinensis and Diospyros philippensis; an unknowing reader/researcher would think that the latter is just the misspelt version of the former, right? In Rojo’s Revised Lexicon of Philippine Trees book, the former has the local name of “O-oi”. If this is indeed a fact, I would like to see live images of Diospyros philippinensis, much better though if live specimen. This tree must be regarded just the same as we regard our proud Mabolo/Kamagong (Diospyros blancoi), after all it’s also an Ebony (a name for a group of important related tree species specially characterized by their hard and dense wood which comes streaked or dark or plain) - and it carries our name with it!

Anyway, here’s your Diospyros blancoi.

Specimen : Cultivated

Local names : Mabolo, Kamagong

Trade name : Velvet apple, Camagon

Botanical name : Diospyros blancoi

Family : Ebenaceae

Specimen height : 14 meters or higher

Fruiting season : Possibly year-round

Traits: Dioecious; Evergreen; Low to medium altitude tree; Medium-sized tree; Tolerant of infertile soil; Typhoon resistant; Wind hardy

Recommendations: Agroforestry; Backyards; Coastal stabilization; Farms; Fruit collector’s; Home gardens; Landscaping tree; Large avenues; Living fence; Ornamental tree; Plantations; Public spaces; Riparian management; Roadside tree; Shade tree; Timber belt; Urban greening; Wildcrafting; Windbreak

Used for : Edible fruit; Edible seeds; Fruit may be cooked and eaten as vegetable; Premium wood for furnitures, wooden decors, veneer, musical instruments and for carving

Native range : Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines

National conservation status : Critically Endangered Species (DENR AO 2007-1)

Further readings :

DENR Administrative Order 2007-1 (Establishing the National List of Threatened Philippine Plants and their Categories, and the List of Other Wildlife Species)

Flora of China - Diospyros philippensis http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200017604

Fruits of Warm Climates (Julia F. Morton) Mabolo Diospyros blancoi A. DC. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mabolo.html

Philippine Woods : Principal Uses, Distribution & Equivalent Woods in Asia Pacific (A. Ella, A. Tongacan, R. Escobin & F. Pitargue)

World Agroforestry Center (AgroForestry Tree Database) http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18079 (993)

Native wild edible : Artocarpus blancoi

Native wild edibles, What we grow No Responses »

Dec 052012

Specimen : Wild trees

Habitat : Riverine forests, open slopes, grasslands, moist and dry thickets

Local name : Antipolo, Tipolo

Botanical name : Artocarpus blancoi

Family : Moraceae

Specimen height : 10-30 meters

Fruiting season : March to June

Traits : Drought tolerant; Evergreen; Fast growing; Low to medium altitude tree; Medium-sized to large tree; Salt spray tolerant; Tolerant of infertile soil; Tolerant of occasional water-logging; Wind hardy

Recommendations : Backyards; Boundary marker; Coastal stabilization; Erosion control; Farms; Fruit collector’s; Landscaping; Large avenues; Living fence; Mangrove management; Nurse tree; Ornamental tree; Paper and pulp tree plantations; Pioneer species for reforestation purpose; Public spaces; Riparian management; Roadside tree; Shade tree; Timber plantations; Urban greening; Wildcrafting; Windbreak

Used for : Fruits are cooked and eaten as vegetable; Seeds are eaten boiled, fried or roasted; Timber used for poles and constructions that needs durability; Wood for furnitures, paneling, flooring and musical instruments; Firewood and charcoal

Native range : The Philippines

National conservation Status : Not threatened

Threats : Indiscriminate cutting of wild trees for firewood and charcoal production; Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, commercial and residential use

Further readings :

Philippine Woods : Principal Uses, Distribution & Equivalent Woods in Asia Pacific (A. Ella, A. Tongacan, R. Escobin & F. Pitargue)

Revised Lexicon of Philippine Trees (J. Rojo) (814)

A Thai garden

Our Blogs, What we grow No Responses »

Dec 042012

My sudden trip to Thailand in 2010 paved a lot of good opportunities in my life; I’ve seen places, met new friends and met the girl who would later be my wife. Yes, that trip has been very fortunate for me indeed! Looking back though, all those almost didn’t become possible had I entertained the thought of not joining that trip — which I almost did. Thailand was then the least of my priorities to visit although I’ve heard a lot about the interestingly wide array of fruits that they grow there and the notoriously spicy concoctions that the Thais used to lure food adventurers from all over the globe. I would rather go far off sea on a semi-habitated island of coconuts or where there is cooler climate or where it snows or somewhere mountainous or medieval or far more exotic than the Philippines or Thailand. And where it got me? Thailand! ha!

Fasttracked to the present and through numerous back trips to Bangkok to woo, Pim, now embraces the married life with me here in the Philippines and enjoys every opportunity to visit and work the farm. With plainly native trees planted on every nook and corner of the property and a few hundreds of the Philippine Carabao mangoes and bananas, there’s not much in there really that would interest a foreigner like her. But Pim, lucky for me (!), is not that hard to please. Nonetheless, I made the most visible area of the farm a little special for her - something to remind her always of home; a garden of Thai herbs and vegetables. She liked the idea very much that on a return trip to Bangkok we brought in (ssshhhh!) seed packets of various herbs - which we have already tested planting with favorable results, a few cuttings of the leafy vegetable they call “Phak waan” (Sauropus androgynus, “Binahian” in the Philippines) and the aromatic Phak phai (Persicaria odorata). The Phak waan and Phak phai will have their own beds soon.

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