Friday, September 29, 2006 Peña: Balacat Trees By Rox Peña E-ssue
IN THE first part of this series on balacat, I asked readers for information on existing balacat trees and gave my e-mail address and phone number. I got an immediate response via e-mail from Miss Carol Isais, who said there are a couple of trees at the Don Teodoro V. Santos Institute (DTVSI) in Mamatitang, Mabalacat. She even gave the name and number of the contact person.
I lost no time in verifying the information. I went to the school and saw the towering balacat trees, three in their front yard and a few more at the back. There’s even a bonus -- I found seedlings, including one that’s six feet tall, beneath those trees which sprouted from the seeds that fell on the ground. The young trees have sharp spines, the most prominent distinguishing mark of the balacat tree in addition to the three-veined leaves.
I went back a few days after, together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) staff, to gather the seedlings. We collected more than 30, including a few which grew in the roof gutter of their canteen. The DTVSI Staff headed by their principal were very accommodating. They even helped us dig up the seedlings and volunteered to collect seeds for us once the trees start fruiting.
To Miss Carol Isais and the DTVSI staff, dacal pung salamat!
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Aside from Fr. Blanco’s Flora de Filipinas, the earliest detailed description of the balacat tree that I found was in the book entitled “The Forest of the Philippines”, written by Dr. H.N. Whitford, a forester and Chief of Division of Investigation of the Bureau of Forestry in the Philippines. Printed in 1911, it even has an illustration of the leaves, flowers and fruits and a picture of the trunk.
Based on all the data I have gathered so far, there’s no doubt in my mind that the few remaining balacat trees we saw at DTVSI and in Poblacion, Mabalacat are the same species which abound in the area many years ago. But to erase any doubt, the DENR sent samples of leaves and flowers taken at DTVSI to UPLB for confirmation.
The College of Forestry of University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) responded last September 26 with a short report signed by Dr. Ramon A. Razal. It reads: “The UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources through the Department of Forest and Biological Sciences has confirmed that the specimens that we received last September 22, 2006 is Balakat (Zizyphus talanai (Blanco) Merr.) of family Rhamnaceae. The specimen was referred and compared with Herbarium No. 12, collected last May 17, 1914 by Forester Otanes, deposited in the Herbarium Bureau of Science”.
It is interesting to note that UPLB keeps actual specimens of Philippine trees collected almost a century ago. Had we known it earlier, we could have gone to the herbarium when we visited the university. We’ll do that in our next trip. Once the seeds from DTVSI are available, we will proceed with the mass production of seedlings. I urge all concerned Mabalaqueños to join us in this undertaking. I call on our local officials in Mabalacat to come up with an ordinance that will protect and propagate balacat and declare it as the Municipal Tree.
Let’s protect the environment, and at the same time preserve our Kapampangan culture. This will be our legacy to the future generation.
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If you know of any balacat tree aside from the ones mentioned in this column, please call the (045) 893-0403 or send an e-mail to rox_pena@yahoo.com.
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