employed. The Romblon mat,
moreover, is most noticeable because of the fancy weave, making a sort
of open work along the border, for which these mats are unique. Romblon
exports great quantities of mats varying in price from P0.25, to over
P10, and in size from small mats for stands to large decorative mats
which cover the sides of rooms. [9]

Pandan Straws.

Description of Pandans.

Pandans or "screw-pines," as they are sometimes called, are readily
recognized by their characteristic appearance. [10] The common forms
occasionally planted in pots as house plants and in gardens, or more
often found growing wild, have long and rather narrow leaves always
supplied with more or less sharp spines which run along both their
margins to the very tip. Another row of spines is present on the
under surface along the midrib. Bearing in mind this middle row of
spines it is impossible to mistake the leaf of the pandan for that of
the pineapple or maguey, which it resembles more or less in form and
shape. Another very prominent feature of pandans is the presence of
air or prop roots which grow from the stem above the ground and are
helpful to the plant in various ways. The veins of the leaves always
run parallel and in a longitudinal direction. The leaves are never
borne on a petiole, but are attached directly, in winding corkscrew
fashion, in ranks of three, to the stem.

Pandans are true tropical shrubs or trees. Although also found in the
subtropics of Australia, they never occur in other temperate regions
except when raised as ornamental plants in greenhouses. Even their
distribution in the tropics is limited, as they are found growing
wild only in the tropical regions of the Old World, especially on
the islands lying between the mainland of Australia and southeastern
Asia. They are hardly ever cultivated, for where they do occur they
are found in more than sufficient quantity for the purposes to which
they are put. They are essentially seacoast or open swamp forms,
generally found at low altitudes and appearing to find a moist, warm
climate most congenial to their growth. In the Philippines they occur
in all provinces, though not always in sufficient quantity to make
them of commercial importance.

The structure of the pandans presents many exceedingly interesting
characteristics well worth noticing. Some plants are very low with
leaves not wider than a blade of grass, while others form large trees
with leaves many