City of Manila

UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
2nd SEM 2020 – 2021

SUMITTED BY: HERRERA, Mary Jaycel L. SECTION: NR 23

SUBJECT: Manila Studies SUBMITTED TO: Prof. George Bedia

1. Compare and contrast these two plants, the "Indigoferra tinctoria" and "Scyphiphoria hydrophy
lacea."

Indigoferra tinctoria
(True Indigo)

Genus name comes from indigo plus Latin fero meaning to bear. The dye indigo is obtained from this
genus.

It has been naturalized to tropical and temperate Asia, as well as parts of Africa, but its native habitat is
unknown since it has been in cultivation worldwide for many centuries.

Indigofera tinctoria, commonly called true indigo, is a deciduous spreading tropical shrub or subshrub of
the pea family that typically grows to 2-3’ tall and as wide. It is probably native to China, tropical Asia
and parts of Africa, but the specific location is not entirely clear because this shrub has been in
cultivation since at least 4000 BC with introduction and naturalization taking place in many places
around the world before good records were kept. Leaves of this plant contain indican. Dye is obtained
by fermentation of the leaves which converts the indican into the blue dye indigotin.

True indigo features light green pinnate leaves (each with 4 to 7 pairs of leaflets) and short racemes of
summer-blooming pink or violet flowers. Flowers are followed by seed pods (to 2” long).
 City of Manila
UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
2nd SEM 2020 – 2021

Scyphiphoria hydrophylacea
(Yamstick Mangrove)

Scyphiphora is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is the only genus in
the tribe Scyphiphoreae. The genus contains only one species, viz. Scyphiphora hydrophylacea, which
has a large distribution range from India, to tropical Asia and the western Pacific. It is a shrub of about 3
m (10 ft) and is often found in mangrove forests or sandy beaches. Its local common names include
chengam in Malaysia, ngam in Thailand, nilad or sagasa in the Philippines, and côi in Vietnam.

2. How the two plants are related to the origin of the name of Manila.

The misidentification of nilad as the source of the toponym appears to have originated in an 1887 essay
written by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, in which he mistakenly used the word nila to refer both to
Indigofera tinctoria (true indigo) and to Ixora manila (which is actually nilád in Tagalog).

The term “Maynila” was said to be coined after the Yamstick Mangrove (Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea)
or Nilad in local name. Nilad is a peculiar, stalky rice-like plant with flowers of bright white and yellow
that was said to be abundant in the ancient kingdom.
 City of Manila
UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
2nd SEM 2020 – 2021

Delgado (1982) records in his Historia General that shrubs of the Yamstick Mangrove, or Nilad, were
abundant along the banks of the river where the city (which was a kingdom before) was established. The
city Maynilad was said to be named after this plant, which means "there is Nilad".

According to Philippine folklore, when the Walled City (popularly known as Intramuros) was newly
built, this peculiar plant proliferated in the delta of the Pasig River and Manila Bay. Back then, the Pasig
River was clean enough for people to use for daily activities.

As the story went on, two Spaniards came and asked where the flowers came from. The woman who
was at loss of the place where exactly the flowers are located answered vaguely, ‘Sa may mga Nilad’
(where the Nilads are). The native as well as foreigners began addressing the place ‘Sa may Nilad’ since
then. Soon, people, be it the natives, the conquerors or visitors, came to know the area as ‘Sa Maynila.’

Julio Nakpil asserted that the dropping of the "d" at the end of the name was probably a mistake on the
part of the Spaniards: "Maynilad seems to us reasonable for the following reason: the prefix 'may' means
"to have" or "there is" (mayroon) ; and the prefix 'ma' means abundant (marami); and 'nilad' is a shrub,
also called sagasa, growing profusely on the banks of Manila, and for that reason it was called Manilad
before and after the coming of the Spaniards who, because of their defective pronunciation of our
language, dropped the last letter, converting it into Manila."