Broussonetia luzonica
MORACEAE. Indigenous
SIZE: Up to 10m tall; trunk size 140cm diameter
TYPE: Deciduous; dioecious (with male and female plants)
HABITAT: All over the Philippines; in open grasslands, dry thickets and forested creek banks; recently recorded also in Celebes
This tree has flowers that look like green worms. But the flowers and the leaves of male trees are acclaimed as vegetables: known as alocon to the Ilocanos; Babayan to the Aetas; and alibagbag to the Ybanag. Of the seven species that comprise the genus, only the B.luzonica yields timber; in the Bicol region, the tree is planted to shade abaca.