RFSP » Balinghasai Farms

Wrightia pubescens ssp. laniti

Feb 082013

My short 4 years of membership in the e-group “Rare Fruit Society of the Philippines” (RFSP) brought good friends and acquaintances despite occasional meetings and even rarer farm visits. More fascinating to think though that online and mobile communications with members I haven’t even met yet and exchange of planting materials with them have lived through the years. My correspondence with one such member, Mr. Alfredo Navarro or “Al”, is precisely just that. When we were developing the farm in 2008, RFSP founding member Verman “Berns” Reyes gave me a few leads where to source Philippine native trees seedlings; Al was one of those he referred. It wasn’t very hard to connect with this guy; a prompt reply came very soon after my introductory email and later that year I was already on my way to pick-up a batch including a lone Katmon-bayani (Dillenia megalantha), a Baling-agta (Diospyros sp.) and a Bantulinaw (Diospyros sp.). A lot more followed soon after which gave me the chance to reciprocate the generosity by giving back native seedlings from my own nursery and yet meetings remain elusive.

A row of 10 nearly matured Lanete trees (Wrightia pubescens ssp. laniti) now stands in the farm; thanks to Al. This beautiful tree is naturally found in numbers scattered along the woodlands and scrublands of our native Bulacan but the seeds have quite eluded us for many seasons already. It bears fruit that splits open in maturity, allowing the elements to disperse the airborne miniature seeds which proves seed collection quite testy and challenging.

Just recently, Al sent a text message to ask for Putat (Barringtonia racemosa) seedlings; a tree which he ‘d read about on a piece I contributed for the book “Philippine Native Trees 101″. Al, if you’re reading this, I still owe you the Putat seeds/seedlings.

Specimen : Wild trees

Observed habitats: Open slopes and dry grasslands

Local names : Lanete, Laniti

Trade name : Lanete

Botanical name: Wrightia pubescens ssp. laniti

Family : Apocynaceae

Height : 8-10 meters

Fruiting season : Fruits observed from August to December

Traits : Drought tolerant; Deciduous; Fast growing; Medium-sized tree; Tolerant of infertile soil

Recommendations : Erosion control; Farms; Landscaping; Large avenues; Large gardens; Living fence; Nurse tree; Ornamental tree; Pioneer species for reforestation purpose; Public spaces; Riparian management; Roadside tree; Shade tree; Timber belt; Timber plantations; Urban greening; Windbreak

Used for : Timber used for general constructions; Wood for carving, furnitures, musical instruments, small wooden articles and interior works; Fuel wood and charcoal

Native range : Southern China, Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), Australia to Solomon Islands

National conservation status : Not threatened in the Philippines

Possible threats : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, commercial or residential use; Indiscriminate cutting of wild trees for fuel wood and charcoal production

(Note : Difference between other subspecies is that the calyx is 1/4 as long as corolla tube)

Goin’ bananas

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Aug 212012

Inspired by our very first harvest from the Saba banana we have experimentally planted in late 2010, my wife and I decided to dedicate about an hectare in the northeastern section of the farm to growing this Filipino staple. It looked that everything was in place; the spacing of the Carabao mangoes planted there over 3 years ago were wide enough for inter-cropping and it’s the season of rain - the ideal time for planting, but the over pouring monsoon made the soil too clayey and difficult to rotovate. The rented Tractor backed-out just a few hours after it started! Manual digging became labor intensive; taking a lot more time than we have expected.

The area was wide enough so we looked to exhaust around 500 pieces. The rub was asking around for friendly supplier of corms that sells also at a friendly price. Ruth Avila, a good friend from Quezon province and a co-fellow at the Rarefruit Society of the Philippines ([email protected]), can sell her extra corms and can ship them too at a good value but transporting them from the pick-up point would be a challenge and may even cost more than the actual price of the merchandise. It was a good thing that the neighboring farm offered to give planting materials for free otherwise we have to spend a lot more than we have reserved for this project. A provision for a simple irrigation system is on the plans; we are hoping to install before summer of the coming year.

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RFSP fruit tree planting in Biak na Bato and collecting wild fruits with Dr. Coronel

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Aug 042012

Last May 26, me, my wife and with few other enterprising members of the Rarefruit Society of the Philippines (RFSP) made a contribution to the greening of Biak na Bato National Park by planting Philippine native fruit trees. This project was initiated in the RFSP online forum upon the suggestion of Dr. Roberto Coronel; renowned fruit expert and highly esteemed professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos. With prior coordination in CENRO San Rafael, we have been allotted with a strip of freshly weeded planting area at the bank of the river that runs through the park. The sun was high and the humidity truly oppressing but we managed to put on happy faces as we plant Bignay (Antidesma ghaesembilla), Bunog (Garcinia benthami), Basiad (Canarium luzonicum), Alupag (Litchi chinensis ssp. philippinensis), Kamagong (Diospyros blancoi), Hunggo (Elaeocarpus cumingii), Bignay-pugo (Antidesma pentandrum), Paho (Mangifera altissima), Pili (Canarium ovatum), Balobo (Diplodiscus paniculatus), Ligas (Semecarpus cuneiformis), Amugis (Koordersiodendron pinnatum), Binukaw (Garcinia binucao), Kalumpit (Terminalia microcarpa) and Kubili (Cubilia cubili). Left-over seedlings were donated to the park’s nursery for future planting.

Attendees : Rey Palacio, Ernie Aquino, Dr. Roberto Coronel & crew, Gigi Morris, Noi Cruz & son, Mr. & Mrs. Ped Unson and Ving Sico

After a brief luncheon of Adobong manok and salted eggs, Dr. Coronel and his crew took the long drive here to Balinghasai farms to collect wild edible native fruits for study while the rest of the group decided to stay and see what the forest park has to offer. Dr. Coronel and I have corresponded thru email days before regarding what wild fruits are in season here in the area. Half a day of walking, driving and more walking yielded voucher specimen for Binayuyu (Antidesma ghaesembilla), Halubagat-baging (Capparis zeylanica / Capparis horrida), Kalubkob (Syzygium calubcob), Kayumkom (Ixora philippinensis), Balinawnaw (Lepisanthes fruticosa) and some scion materials.

Not beaten down by the weather, the good doctor still welcomed my invitation to tour even the farthest recess of the farm to check a wild-growing Garcinia by the creek that we’re really itching to identify. The genus was confirmed by noted field botanist Ulysses Ferreras but the exact identification yet remained unknown.

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