THE NARRA TREE

The act of desecrating the narra tree at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol should not pass without judgment to the culprit or culprits. Be it ignorance of the role of the tree in our national life or just the plain desire to surreptitiously steal it for personal use, the culprits have aroused the anger of many and have given the detractors of Governor Defensor and Dr. Raul Banias an issue to lambast them in the local press. The tree may be able to recover since there are still inner barks that were not totally skinned or removed when the tree was girdled.

Narra, pterocarpus indicus, is found throughout Asia and the Pacific, growing wild or cultured and is sought after for its hardwood which has grains that is most attractive to furniture makers. Its high resistance to termites and borers make it a prized material for homes and buildings. This beauty must be one of the motivations why the tree was defaced. It is said that the tree was planted by the Hon. Governor Rafael “Nono” Palmares in late 1960s. Had the tree grown on a single trunk, it could have been cut generations ago by similarly evil-thinking creatures.

Being a legume belonging to the pea family Narra trees can grow fast merely by encouraging the growth of Nitrogen fixing rhizobium bacteria species. Its deep root system coupled with the secondary roots that encourages the sideways buttress to strengthen the trunks have the ability to take up phosphates that also serve as fertilizers for the bacteria. When these bacteria die off and decompose, the tertiary roots of the narra tree absorb the soluble nutrients in the form of phosphates and nitrates and utilize them for their own metabolism and growth. So even the worst possible soils like built up area of parks and roadsides, one can see healthy narra trees growing.

It was Governor-General Frank Murphy through Proclamation No. 652 s. 1934 who declared narra as the national tree of the Philippines. It is not difficult to see why Murphy did so. After all, he was surrounded by narra furniture and wall panels during his stay at Malacanang. He must have also seen healthy narra trees not only in the palace grounds but along the roads of Manila during his time. Being a hardy tree, narra can withstand strong winds with just its branches being broken or blown off but it has the capacity to grow back because of its fast growing character.

Narra is an excellent shade tree in open spaces and parks due to its wide-spreading branches. However as a tree-farming species or if grown in mixed use areas, narra will not perform as well as other legumes like ipil-ipil and madre de cacao. When planted in high densities, it tends to grow a single trunk but will be multi-trunked when planted in low densities. It grows fast in slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soils and the growth condition of narra can be a measure to gauge the fertility and condition of the soils especially in the eye of a trained agronomist.

While many farmers and agriculturists have focused on the use of ipil-ipil and other tree legumes for their roles in farming systems, little attention had been given to the narra tree. Yet the leaves of narra contain as much nitrogen as other legumes. Once soaked, the dried leaves of narra like other legumes easily decompose and can serve as food for earthworms. However narra is seldom used as fodder for livestock. Goats are the only livestock which attack both the leaves and trunks of the tree.

A mature narra tree can produce thousands of pods in a year and each pod contains one seed which is easily dispersed when mature as they are light and has wing-like flaps that enables it to float for quite a distance when they break off the base. This is one survival mechanism that narra trees possess. Seedlings of narra can be found far from the tree because they have floated and fell on favorable ground to sprout during the wet season. Seeds easily grow when it has been soaked and the hard covering has softened allowing moisture to penetrate the outer seed cover.

The tree that was pruned and girdled at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol had been a source of the already scarce seedling materials. We have seen many people gathering seeds and wildlings when the old capitol was not yet abandoned. And even after the construction of the new generator, we still have seen the narra bear pods which people have collected during summer. Even if it will survive it will take a few years for that narra tree to bear pods again.