No product receives more attention in the lore of the Tinguian than the climbing vine known as lawed (Piper sp.). [224] It was formerly in universal use in connection with the chewing of betel-nut.  To-day betel-nut is less common in this region, but this leaf and the areca-nut still play an important part in all ceremonies.  According to tradition, it was possible in the old times to tell the fate of an absent friend by noting the condition of a lawed vine planted by him prior to his departure. [225] The vine is now trained on poles and trellises, near to many houses.

Among the larger cultivated plants and trees, the banana (Musa paradisiaca), coconut (Cocos nucifera), and bamboo (Bambusa sp.) are the most important.

At least twenty varieties of bananas are raised in Abra.  The fruit of some of these is scarcely larger than the forefinger, while others are quite large.  The common type bears a rather small, yellow fruit locally known as saba.  In Manabo and several other villages, plantings covering three or four acres are to be found, but the usual plot is small, and is situated near to the house of the owner.

Suckers, which sprout from the roots of mature plants, are set out as needed, either to make new groves or to replace the old stalks, which are cut down after bearing.  Both bud and fruit are eaten.  The latter are cut on the stem while still green, and are hung in the house to ripen, in order to protect them from bats and fruit-feeding birds.

The coconut (niog) is not raised in groves, as in the Christianized districts, but in many villages every house has two or three trees towering above it.  Even the interior mountain settlements, like Lingey, Ba-ay, and Likuan, are hidden beneath these trees, thus incidentally disposing of the fable that “the coconut tree will not grow out of sight of the sea.”  Young trees have to be protected by fences during the first two or three years of growth, or they will be uprooted by the pigs, but from that time on they require little or no care.  They are not tapped for sap, as is customary in most parts of the Philippines, but notches are cut in the tree trunks in order to supply foothold for the fruit gatherer.  The nuts are cut off with a knife as soon as ripe, else they may fall and cause death or injury to people below.

No other fruit serves the people in so many ways.  The juice is relished as a drink, the meat as a food, the oil as a food and hair dressing; the shells serve as dishes and cups, or are carved into ladles, while the fibrous covering of the nut is converted into foot wipers, thread brushes, and the like.

The betel-nut, bwa (Areca catechu L.), is also found in some villages, particularly in the mountains.  It is a tall, slender palm which yields the nut so prized throughout the Islands for chewing.

Mango-treees, mangga (Mangifera indica L.) appear here and there in valleys and on mountain sides, where the seeds have doubtless been carried by birds or travelers, but considerable groves are found in many districts.  The fruit is picked before it is ripe, and is eaten as it becomes mellow.