Philippine Tree of the Month: Niog-niogan

Occurring naturally only in our archipelago is Ficus pseudopalma, a small but attractive tree that's quite under-rated, even taken for granted but acclaimed internationally and known as the Philippine Fig.

Here in Batangas, it is called Niog-niogan (literally "pretending to be a coconut," possibly that is why the scientific name is "a fig pretending to be a palm") not only because of how the tree grows but moreso because its fruits indeed, look like small coconuts.

This is the same tree that the Bicolanos call Lubi-lubi; they harvest the young leaves and cook it in gata (coconut cream), a vegetarian stew that must be nutritious and I bet, delicious.