Colona blancoi (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Colona blancoi (Rolfe) Merr.

Family: Tiliaceae

Synonyms

Columbia blancoi Rolfe.

Vernacular names

• Philippines: anilau, mamaued (Tagalog), keddeng (Ilokano).

Distribution

The Philippines (Luzon).

Uses

The bast is made into weak rope, which is durable under wet conditions and therefore useful in the rainy season.

Observations

A small tree, up to 10 m tall. Leaves ovate-oblong, 12-30 cm long, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, margins toothed, pointed at the apex, hairy. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of small cymes; flowers pink or yellow. Fruit an ovoid capsule, about 1 cm long, 2-4 winged. In Philippine studies in the 1910s, both dry and wet rope made from the bast of C. blancoi had a tensile strength of about 300 kg per cm². The elongation at break was 13% and 15% for dry and wet rope, respectively. The vernacular names "mamaued" and "keddeng" have also been mentioned for C. serratifolia Cav. and C. mollis (Warb.) Burret respectively. The vernacular name "anilau" has also been mentioned for Colona lanceolata (Warb.) Burret and C. serratifolia Cav.

Selected sources

19, 20, 36, 93.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch