Ficus pseudopalma - Why is it called Lubi-lubi and Niyog-niyogan

Bongalon, Daraga, Albay 07.23.2015

LUBI-LUBI  / NIYOG-NIYOGAN

(Ficus pseudopalma)

• Lubi-lubi  in Bicolano
• Niyog-niyogan in Tagalog 

ETYMOLOGY: The real and true reason why Ficus pseudopalma is called lubi-lubi or niyog-niyogan is its fruits that look like miniature coconut fruits, especially when they are mature and drying. It is also the reason why lubi-lubi is botanically called "pseudopalma," which means not a true palm or coconut. The plant does not belong to the family of palms. The prefix pseudo came from the Greek pseudḗs for false and pseûdos for falsehood. Lubi-lubi (niyog-niyogan) rather belongs to family of fig. The fact that it is called Philippine fig in English.

The real and true reason why Ficus pseudopalma is called lubi-lubi or niyog-niyogan are its fruits that look like miniature coconut fruits, specially when they are mature and drying.

Zone 4, La Purisima, Iriga City, Camarines Sur 10.10.2017

Young fruits of lubi-lubi

Explanation

As you take a closer look at the lubi-lubi (niyog-niyogan) you will notice that neither the shape of the leaf nor its foliage appeared to be a look-alike of coconut (Coco nucifera). It was a false claim for some writers and bloggers who might just copied and pasted this misinformation in their write-ups and did not research well. 

Notice that neither the shape of the leaf or its foliage appeared to be a look-alike of coconut (Coco nucifera).

If you look at the plant again and observe closely, you will notice that the coconut palm (leaf) is pinnate (resembling a feather), as well as the blades and veins of leaflets, are linear (straight and parallel to the midrib). Meanwhile, the leaves of lubi-lubi are neither pinnate nor linear but entire (whole, not split into leaflets) and serrated (with saw-like edges).

The stem of lubi-lubi and the coconut trunk are not look-alike. Do you know that the former would have branches while the latter would not.

Notice also that the stem of lubi-lubi (niyog-niyogan) and the trunk of the coconut tree are not lookalikes, aside from the fact that the former would have branches while the latter would not. The description in Wikipedia that lubi-lubi has an unbranched stem is not true. It is also not true that indentions left by fallen leaves or grooves on the stem of Ficus pseudopalma are similar to the grooves on the trunk of a coconut tree. Whoever said or wrote that must have not seen a real lubi-lubi (niyog-niyogan) and coconut tree in his/her life.

Whoever said or wrote that indentions left by fallen leaves or grooves on the stem of Ficus pseudopalma is similar to the grooves on the trunk of coconut tree must have not seen an actual lubi-lubi and coconut tree.

Lubi and niyog are local common names for coconut in Visayas and Tagalog regions, respectively. In Bicolandia, though coconut is called niyog, Bicolanos call Ficus pseudopalma a lubi-lubi being that peninsular Bicolandia is geographically already within the Visayas and it is no wonder Visayan words also appear in Bicolano languages. A long list of vernacular is shared equally by the Visayans and the Bicolanos. In fact, there exists a dialect called Bisakol on the border between Bicol's western side of the peninsula and eastern Visayas. Bisakol is a short name or the combination of Bisaya/Binisaya and Bicolano.

Dr. Godofredo Stuart of Stuart Xchange listed lubi-lubi as the Tagalog common name for Ficus pseudopalma. However, Tagalog dictionaries written by native speakers, such as the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino (2001-2010), listed niyog-niyogan and not lubi-lubi. But a vintage Tagalog dictionary, the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala (1753-1822), written by foreign Jesuit priests (Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar), has an entry for lubi lubi defined as "La escorzonera, planta" referring to a Spanish plant (Perezia multiflora) with a whorled cluster of leaves appearing to be almost similar to that of lubi-lubi but with no outgrowing stem. This is entirely a different plant and it looks like we don't have it here in the Philippines.

UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino (2001-2010)

Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala (1753-1822)

Lubi-lubi is assumed to have originated in the Visayas then in Bicol and the produce was brought to the Tagalog-speaking region by trade where it was renamed to niyog-niyogan to fit the language of the Tagalogs. Whoever wrote that information in Wikipedia that lubi-lubi is endemic to the Philippines is correct, but to say that it grows especially on the island of Luzon has to triple-check the botanical facts. If we follow the etymology of lubi-lubi and its botanical facts, we will be directed to the correct geolocation of Ficus pseudopalma. 

Have you wondered why we could not easily find this plant in the north and central Luzon and the southern Tagalog regions, but aplenty in Bicol and Visayas?  The main reason why this species of fig does not spread and propagate easily to other places is that its reproduction system is unique. Each species of fig has an associated species of agaonid wasp (Hymenoptera: Chalcoidea: Agaonidae) and it is the only one that could induce pollination of flowers of that fig to become fertilized fruits. Thus, lubi-lubi can only be pollinated by their associated agaonid wasps and in turn, the wasps can only lay eggs within the fruit of lubi-lubi. Human intervention may also propagate lubi-lubi through cuttings. However, if cuttings are planted in a distant place without introducing its associated agaonid wasps, the plant will not self-propagate in that new place.  

Lubi-lubi (Areca catechu, L.)

To make things more confusing, there is also another palm tree in Visayas and Mindanao we really called lubi-lubi (Areca catechu, L.) also known as bunga, the one that bears fruits that natives would use in chewing mamâ (ngangâ). It is called "betel nut" in English. So-called lubi-lubi because this palm tree looks exactly like a small coconut tree with small coconut fruits, with leaves and foliage very much similar to that of the coconut, and its fruits are much like miniature coco fruits. The trunk is also much like that of a coconut trunk but very slender. Like lubi, this lubi-lubi palm is not also a look-alike of Ficus pseudopalma as explained above why the palm and trunk of lubi are not a look-alike of Ficus pseudopalma.

Lubi-lubi folk song and folk dance

The lubi-lubi folk song refers to the coconut tree (not the Ficus pseudopalma or the Solanum nigrum). The song is originally written in Waray, the language of Samar and eastern Leyte. The word silot in the lyrics is the giveaway of why the song is about the coconut. Silot means buko in Tagalog - the young coconut fruit. The song is later on used to accompany a folk dance with dance steps similar to that of Balitaw or of Cariñosa. Coconut is called lubi in Waray. In the song, lubi is uttered twice to rhyme with the lyrics and to complete the metric count of musical beats per line of the stanza.

The original song of LUBI-LUBI that I translated from Waray to Tagalog.

References:

• Ficus pseudopalma Philippine fig Moraceae, Forest Starr, Kim Starr, and Lloyd Loope, United States Geological Survey - Biological Resources Division Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawai'i January 2003. 
• Lubi-Lubi (Waray Song), Audio playback and lyrics by Tagalog Lang.