The Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG) Plant of the Month (POM) for December 2021 is the “Anibong-Liitan”, scientifically known as Oncosperma gracilipes Becc. Its name oncosperma comes from the Greek ‘oncos’, ‘humped’ or ‘swollen’, and ‘sperma’, ‘seed’, in reference to the broad raphe on the seed while gracilipes is derived from the Latin words gracilis meaning “slender” and pes meaning “foot“.
Anibong-liitan fruits are used as a substitute for areca in preparing “Buyo” for chewing. The bud of Anibong is edible, either cooked or raw. The trunk is very durable and is used as telegraph poles and split as floorings. The sheaths are locally used as buckets. It also has a reddish-orange tinge to its spiny long stem that distinguishes it from other species of Anibong palms.
By: AALimpiada and ACMalayba