ao. It is a large tree
with dense foliage. The leaves are employed as a bleaching agent in
boiling water. It is said that the young green fruit can be used for
this purpose.

Pandakaki.--The leaves of the plant (Tabernaemontana pandacaqui)
are used as a bleaching agent. This is the name under which it is
known, particularly in Pampanga and Cavite. In Palawan it is called
alibetbet. It is also known as kampopot in Tagalog and as alibubut
and toar in parts of the Visayas. In Ilocano the name is kurribuetbuet.

Lemons.--The juice of the various species and varieties of Citrus is
employed to some extent for bleaching. It is usually added to boiling
water in which the straw is immersed.

Vinegar.--Of Philippine vinegars, those made from palm juices are
considered about half as strong as lemon juice. Vinegar from sugar
cane juice has probably the same strength. That made from cooked rice
is considered about one-fourth as strong as lemon juice.

Alum.--In some towns alum is added to the boiling water in which
straw is treated. It is usually employed in combination with other
bleaching agents.

DYES USED ON MAT STRAWS.

Mordants.

A mordant is a substance employed to fix the dye to the material. In
general, different ones are needed for different dyes and various
materials. In some cases the mordant is added to the dye liquid;
in others the material is previously treated with it before being
colored. The most important are the mineral mordants, such as the
alumina, the iron, the tin, and the chrome. These are not used in
the Philippines with local vegetable dyes. Tannin is also important
and is employed to some extent in the Philippines, being generally
obtained from the mangrove tan barks. Wood ashes are little used but
vinegar and lemon juice are important.

Kolis.--The leaves of this plant (Memecylon edule) are commonly used
in mordanting buri straw before dyeing it with sappan wood. In Tanay,
Rizal, it is employed on sabutan straw with all of the vegetable
dyes. It is known as guisian (Laguna), duigim (Ilocos, Pangasinan),
kulis (Rizal, Nueva Ecija, Bataan), tagobachi (Leyte), kasigay
(Ilocos Norte), agam (Negrito, Cagayan), guisoc-guisoc (Sorsogon),
macaasin (Tayabas), baian (Zambales), diyatdiyatan (Tayabas), candong
(Pangasinan), dioc (Pangasinan).

Natural Vegetable Dyes.

Numerous natural vegetable dyes are employed in the Philippines. Those
used on the mat straws are limited in number. The