Pandanus palustris
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = PandanpalustrisWASP.jpg
|image_caption =
|status = CR
|status_system = IUCN2.3
|genus = Pandanus
|species = palustris
|authority = Thouars{{WCSP | access-date = 27 January 2020}}
|synonyms =
{{Species list
| Vinsonia palustris | (Thouars) Gaudich.
}}
}}
Pandanus palustris ("Vacoas des marais") is a species of plant in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to Mauritius. It was once common in marshes and in the wetter highlands of Mauritius, but is now threatened by habitat loss.
Description
File:Drupes of Pandanus palustris illus - 1836-7.jpg
A tall (8–10 m), erect, solitary tree, with a large, dense rosette of slender, drooping, pale-green leaves. The leaf margins are completely lined with tiny cream coloured spines, that often develop brown tips. Older leaves are persistent at the base of the rosette.
This species can also be distinguished from its closest relatives by its very large, round fruit-heads, which are partially enclosed in protective leafy bracts. Each fruit-head is packed with 40-60 drupes. Each enormous, green-brown, 3-6-locular drupe has a raised, pyramid-like free portion, and has a deeply cleft tip. The drupe is also topped by large (6-10mm wide), irregular, fleshy stigmas. Similar to Pandanus pyramidalis, the joined portion of the drupes inside the fruit-head becomes light-yellow when ripe.Vaughan RE, Wiehe PO (1953) The genus Pandanus in the Mascarene Islands. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany 55(356): 1-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1953.tb00001.x.Strahm, W.A. 1993. The conservation and restoration of the flora of Mauritius and Rodrigues. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.Vaughan, R.E. and Wiehe, P.O. 1953. Flore des Mascareignes, Genus Pandanus. The Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius, ORSTOM, Paris and RBG, Kew.
References
{{Commons category|Pandanus palustris}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q616075}}
Category:Endemic flora of Mauritius
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Category:Plants described in 1808
{{Pandanales-stub}}