t town supplies most of the mats used by the people
of Ilocos Norte. Some buri mats and a few "pandan" mats (probably
from the common seashore variety) are made. The sarakat mats exceed
those of pandan in numbers and in commercial importance and are more
beautiful and stronger. The demand for the mats is great and many
people are engaged exclusively in their fabrication.

The Pandan of Majayjay. [19]

This pandan (P. utilissimus) is known in most places where it
grows as "pandan" or "pandan totoo," the true or tame pandan. It
is extensively used in Laguna and Tayabas and is remarkable for its
very large leaves and its heavy fruit. The tree occurs in groups in
dry ground but thrives best in half shade near streams. It attains a
height of from 4 to 8 meters. The trunk branches toward the top and
is supported by a few short and thick prop roots.

The leaves are often 5 meters long and 2 decimeters wide. The lower
part of the older leaves stands up straight, while the upper half
droops. The younger leaves are erect with only their tips bent
down. The leaf spines are short, blunt, and conical.

The fruits look like the jackfruit and are very large and heavy, being
often 6 decimeters long and 2 decimeters in diameter and weighing at
times 25 or more kilograms. The drupes ripen slowly and gradually;
they are red in color when fully mature and possess a peculiar faint
odor. It takes some time before all the drupes are shed, and in a
grove of fruiting trees they can be found in all stages of maturity
during the month of May.

P. utilissimus is found growing wild throughout the plateau region
of Majayjay, Luisiana, and Cavinti in Laguna Province, and extending
into Tayabas Province. It is only the leaves from those plants which
have been set out in plots, however, that are utilized in the making
of mats, hats and telescope baskets. Like sabutan, this pandan grows
best in the half-shade near streams, and leaves grown in the sun
are considered inferior. Nevertheless, no attempt seems to be made to
select a locality for their propagation, and plots are planted wherever
land is available. This pandan will not live in stagnant water and
is particularly adapted to hill-sides where there is a constant flow.

The most satisfactory statistics on the propagation of P. utilissimus
are obtained from Cavinti, where the plant has been introduced
within recent years and suckers are still being brought in from other
towns. It is state