Xylarium: A national treasure on Makiling's foothills

On the foothills of Mt. Makiling sits a national treasure – a wood collection representing more than 90 percent of Philippine tree species – an important reference for archaeologists, foresters, researchers and students.

- By PAUL ICAMINA

Housed in the Forest Product Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) at the forestry complex of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, the Herbarium/Xylarium contains 2,631 herbarium specimens (810 species from 339 genera and 110 families) and the most complete wood collection of 10,983 authentic specimens in the country (2,282 species under 463 genera and 197 families of tree species).

"This is a very rare and valuable collection since some of the collected species no longer exist in natural forests," says forester Glenn Estudillo, the Xylarium's curator, pointing to the katagpo tree which has been extinct in the wild for more than 100 years.

“We have to protect this collection.” A xylarium is a collection of authenticated wood specimens, from the Greek xylon for “wood” and Latin arium meaning “separate place” (similar to terrarium and aquarium). The Xylarium has a sister facility, the Herbarium, currently a collection of 2,631 preserved plant specimens.

The FPRDI, under the Department of Science and Technology, is the country’s only certifying body in wood identification, its collections the basis for wood identification in the Philippines.