Pandanus tectorius

P. tectorius is a small tree that grows upright to reach {{convert|4|-|14|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height. The single trunk is slender with brown ringed bark. It is spiny, grows to 4.5–11 m (15–35 ft) in width, and forks at a height of {{convert|4|-|8|m|ft}}. It is supported by aerial roots (prop roots) that firmly anchors the tree to the ground. Roots sometimes grow along the branch, and they grow at wide angles in proportion to the trunk.

林投 20190525170309.jpg|Growth habit

林投 20190530190950.jpg|Aerial roots

林投帶刺氣生根與新葉 20190525170359.jpg|Spiny aerial roots and leaflets

Pandanus tectorius fruit.jpg|Fruit showing phalanges

File:Hīnano - panoramio.jpg

Pandanus tectorius is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are borne on separate trees, with very different male and female flowers. Male flowers, known as racemes, are small, fragrant, and short-lived, lasting only a single day. The flowers are grouped in 3 and gathered in large clusters surrounded by big, white bracts. these clusters are about 1 ft in length and are fragrant. Female flowers resemble pineapples.

In Hawaiʻi the male flower is called hīnano and the bracts are used for making very fine mats (moena hīnano' or ʻahu hīnano).{{Hawaiian Dictionaries|hīnano|id=D100078}}

The female P. tectorius trees produce a segmented, large fruit. Although not closely related, the fruit resembles a pineapple. The fruit of P. tectorius is either ovoid, ellipsoid, subglobose or globose with a diameter of {{convert|4|-|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a length of {{convert|8|-|30|cm|in|abbr=on}}. The fruit is made up of 38–200 wedge-like phalanges, often referred to as keys or carpels, which have an outer fibrous husk and are 8 inches in length. There are roughly 40 to 80 keys in each fruit and the color of the fruit can be yellow, orange, or red with a green top. Phalanges contain two seeds on average, with a maximum of eight reported. The phalanges are buoyant, and the seeds within them can remain viable for many months while being transported by ocean currents.

The leaves of Pandanus tectorius are usually {{convert|90|-|150|cm|ft|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|5|-|7|cm|in|abbr=on}} in width. They possess saw-like margins.{{Cite web |url=http://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Pandanus_tectorius |title=Pandanus tectorius |date=2009 |website=Native Plants Hawaii |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131130653/http://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/pandanus_tectorius/ |archive-date=31 Jan 2023 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 May 2023}} Some varieties have spines along the edges and ribs throughout the leaves. The leaves are spirally arranged at the end of the branches.

Pandanus tectorius was first described by Sydney Parkinson in 1774.{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:895770-1 |title=Pandanus tectorius Parkinson |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=7 May 2023}} It is an angiosperm belonging to the genus Pandanus of the family Pandanaceae.{{Cite journal|title=Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down To Genus Pandanus L. f.|url=https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=PANDA|journal=Natural Resources Conservation Service}}

Pandanus tectorius grows natively from the Philippines through the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. It is found in parts of Malesia (the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Maluku Islands and the Philippines), throughout Papuasia, and in most of the tropical Pacific. In Australia, it is native to an area from Port Macquarie in New South Wales to northern Queensland.{{cite web |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/pandanus_tectorius.htm |title=Pandanus tectorius |author=F.A. Zich |author2=B.P.M Hyland |author3=T. Whiffen |author4=R.A. Kerrigan |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8 |year=2020

|publisher=Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

|access-date=5 March 2021}} Both the US and the Hawaiian Islands recognize only one indigenous species, P. tectorius.{{Cite web |title=Pandanus tectorius Parkinson ex Zucc. |url=https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PATE2 |website=USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service}} Its exact native range is unknown due to extensive cultivation; it may be an early Polynesian introduction to many of the more isolated Pacific islands on which it occurs. These islands include Micronesia and Melanesia. In Hawaii, P. tectorius is found natively on all the main islands except Kahoʻolawe, and it is known to have predated human settlement, based on seed and pollen samples taken from Kaua{{okina}}i's Makauwahi Cave.{{cite news |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Sep/28/ln/FP509280357.html |title=Kaua'i cave tells 10,000-year tale |first=Jan |last=TenBruggencate |website=Honolulu Advertiser |date=2005-09-28}}

Pandanus tectorius naturally grows in coastal regions, such as on mangrove margins and beaches, at elevations from sea level to {{convert|610|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal |url=http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/CommonTreesHI/CFT_Pandanus_tectorius.pdf |title=Hala, screwpine |first=Elbert L. Jr. |last=Little |author2=Roger G. Skolmen |journal=Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced) |publisher=United States Forest Service |year=1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193151/https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/CommonTreesHI/CFT_Pandanus_tectorius.pdf |archive-date=8 Aug 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 May 2023}} It requires {{convert|1500|–|4000|mm|in|abbr=on}} of annual rainfall and seasons will fluctuate from wet to dry.{{Cite journal |last=Pasiecznik |first=Nick |year=2015 |title=Pandanus tectorius (screw pine) |doi=10.1079/cabicompendium.38447 |publisher=Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International|doi-access=free }}

Pandanus tectorius is considered more drought tolerant than coconut trees. The trees have adapted to drought by reducing fruiting.{{Cite book |title=Growing plants on atoll soils |last1=Stone |first1=E.L. |last2=Migyar |first2=L. |last3=Robison |first3=W.L. |publisher=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |year=2000 |location=Livermore |page=25}} Thatch Screwpine is well adapted to grow in the many soil types present on coasts, including quartz sand, coral sand, and peat, as well as in limestone and basalt. P. tectorius is salt and wind tolerant and favors slightly acidic to basic soil (pH of 6–10). The trees are strong and can typically withstand tropical storms.{{Cite web |last1=Thomson |first1=L.A.J. |last2=Englberger |first2=L.|last3=Guarino |first3=L. |last4=Thaman |first4=R.R. |last5=Elevitch |first5=C.|year=2006 |title=Pandanus tectorius (pandanus) |url=https://agroforestry.org/images/pdfs/P.tectorius-pandanus.pdf |website=Agroforestry.org |access-date=7 May 2023}} It prefers to grow in full sunlight, but grows well with 30-50% shade. It will not tolerate shade above 70%.

There are a wide range of natural enemies that pose a threat to P. tectorius such as parasites, pathogens, and herbivores. They attack the leaves, roots, stems, and growing points. The stick insect Megacrania batesii lives and feeds only on P. tectorius and two other Pandanus species.

Pandanus tectorius in Australia is threatened by a sap-sucking insect, Jamella australiae, a species of the genus Jamella of the subfamily Flatinae,{{cite web |title=Species: Jamella australiae (Pandanus Planthopper) |website=Atlas of Living Australia |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:a9177d9c-7d83-4237-9e31-90d0ee1358db |access-date=4 January 2021}} known as the Pandanus planthopper.{{cite news |last=Stünzner |first=Inga |title=Byfield National Park becomes last line of defence against threat to pandanus |website=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=15 December 2020 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/pandanus-planthopper-kills-60000-plants-and-heads-north/12985874 |access-date=4 January 2021}} It has caused much damage to plants on the northern coast of New South Wales,{{cite web |title=Pandanus Dieback |website=Tweed Shire Council |date=29 September 2016 |url=https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Item/927 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104062326/https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Item/927 |archive-date=4 Jan 2021 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 May 2023}} before making its way up the coast to Noosa and the Gold Coast in Queensland in the 1990s. Since then it has infested pandanus further north, killing about 80 per cent of the P. tectorius population to the south of Gladstone, Queensland, and has since reached Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast, where P. tectorius plays an important part in preventing coastal erosion. A natural predator in the form of a wasp native to northern Queensland, Aphanomerus pusillus, has been introduced on Fraser Island{{cite news |title=The insects killing Fraser Island's pandanus population |newspaper=The Courier Mail |date=26 January 2017 |url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/gympie/the-insects-killing-fraser-islands-pandanus-population/news-story/39f31a04a0d8f7a13d23a447e78d3848 |access-date=4 January 2021}}{{cite news |last=Coghill |first=Jon |title=Rangers turn to tiny native wasp to save Fraser Island's iconic pandanus population |website=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=29 October 2015 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-29/fraser-island-wasp-saving-pandanus-trees/6895454 |access-date=4 January 2021}} and in Byfield National Park as one of methods used to combat the pest. Other methods used on Fraser Island including the injection of insecticide into the plant, stripping infested leaves away, and breeding new plants from local stock. The wasp can only be used in the warmer months on the island, as it does not thrive in the cooler climate of southern Queensland.

Pandanus tectorius may be grown from seed or cuttings – the former will flower at around 15 years and the latter usually flowers by 3 to 4 years of age. Female trees typically flower 1 to 3 times per year while male trees will flower every 2 months. It is thought to reproduce sexually in Hawaii, but there is some evidence that apomixis occurs. Small insects, such as bees, and wind are usually the pollinators. It takes 1 to 2 years from pollination to produce fruit on female trees.

Seasons vary amongst locations and varieties. For example, in Fiji the pollination season is March to May, in northern Australia it is April to August, and in Micronesia, there are two season December to March and July to September. Most varieties produce 8 to 12 fruits per tree every 2 years. Each fruit usually weighs between {{cvt|7|and|15|kg}} and contains 35 to 80 edible keys.

Pandanus tectorius plants are usually propagated by seed in Hawaii. Soak the keys in cool tap water for 5 days while frequently changing the water.{{Cite book |title=Growing native Hawaiian plants: a how-to guide for the gardner |last=Bornhorst |first=Heidi L. |publisher=The Bess Press |year=1996 |location=Honolulu |pages=52–53}} Viable keys will float, so it is important to keep them. In Growing native Hawaiian plants: a how-to guide for the gardner, Bornhorst says to remove the fleshy layer of the key and then bury the seed half-way in planting soil. It is important to keep the soil moist.

P. tectorius can also be grown from large cuttings. Selected forms are propagated by stem cuttings in Micronesia. Morphological traits looked for include aerial roots. Plants selected have 2/3 of their leaves trimmed off to prevent water loss. In Native Hawaiian plants for tropical seaside landscaping, Moriarty says for best results use mature branches with leaves and small aerial roots. Then root in a sand bed.{{Cite journal |last=Moriarty |first=Dan |year=1975 |title=Native Hawaiian plants for tropical seaside landscaping |journal=Bulletin of the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden |volume=3 |pages=41–48}} Plants grown from cuttings produce fruit in 4 to 6 years.

Propagation by grafting is not applicable.

The fruit of Pandanus tectorius is edible. Some varieties and cultivars contain significant amounts of calcium oxalate, so need thorough cooking before being consumed.{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Arnold |first1=Michael A. |date=2014 |title=Pandanus tectorius S. Parkinson |website=Aggie Horticulture |publisher=Texas A&M University |url=https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/syllabi/206/Lists/Fourth%20Edition/Pandanustectorius.pdf |access-date=2020-09-30 |archive-date=2021-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831185729/https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/syllabi/206/Lists/Fourth%20Edition/Pandanustectorius.pdf |url-status=dead }} Other cultivars contain very little to no calcium oxalate and can be eaten raw. It is an important food source in the atolls of Micronesia and Polynesia, with the fruit commonly eaten raw or turned into a dried paste (e.g., mokwan in the Marshall Islands or te tuae in Kiribati{{Cite book |editor=Healthy Pacific Lifestyle Section of the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities |title=Pandanus |url=https://paperzz.com/doc/8610113/pandanus---pacific-community |year=2006 |location=Noumea |isbn=978-982-00-0166-4}}) or flour.{{cite journal |author1=Miller, C.D. |author2=Murai, M. |author3=Pen, F. |year=1956 |title=The Use of Pandanus Fruit As Food in Micronesia |journal=Pacific Science |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=3–16 |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/8178/1/v10n1-3-16.pdf |access-date=7 May 2023}} It is also one of the traditional foods of Maldivian cuisine.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/4398927|title=Eating on the Islands - As times have changed, so has the Maldives' unique cuisine and culture|first=Xavier|last=Romero-Frias|journal=Himalmag |date=15 April 2013|volume=26 |issue=2}} The fibrous nature of the fruit also serves as a natural dental floss.{{cn|date=May 2023}} It is also used in Samoan culture as a ula fala, a necklace made out of the dried fruit painted in red and is worn by the matai during special occasions and functions.{{cite web|title=Samoan 'Ula Fala |url=http://www.blackpearldesigns.com/collections/samoan-handicrafts/products/samoan-ula-fala |website=blackpearldesigns |access-date=3 October 2015}}

Australian Aboriginal peoples extracted the slender, edible seeds. This seed, and the fruit, was an important food.{{Cite book |last=Low |first=Tim |title=Wild food plants of Australia |publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers |year=1991 |isbn=0-207-16930-6 |location=Sydney, NSW |page=42}}

The tree's leaves are often used as flavoring for sweet dishes. It is also used in Sri Lankan cookery, where the leaves are used to flavor a variety of curries. Leaves were used by the Polynesians to make baskets, mats, outrigger canoe sails, thatch roofs,{{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/26/news/story09.html |title=Funds help hala trees strengthen isle roots |first=Gary |last=Kubota |date=26 June 2007 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125113819/http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/26/news/story09.html |archive-date=25 November 2020}} and grass skirts.

The fragrant male flowers are used in perfumery and are also distilled to make Kewra.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

A large shrub or small tree of immense cultural, health, and economic importance in the Pacific, it is second only to coconut on atolls. It grows wild mainly in semi-natural vegetation in littoral habitats throughout the tropical and subtropical Pacific, where it can withstand drought, strong winds, and salt spray. It propagates readily from seed, but it is also widely propagated from branch cuttings by local people for farms and home gardens. It grows fairly quickly, and all parts are used, from the nutritious fruits of edible varieties to the poles and branches in construction to the leaves for weaving and garlands. The plant is prominent in Pacific culture and tradition, including local medicine.{{Citation needed paragraph|date=August 2021}}

Hundreds of cultivated varieties are known by their local names and characteristics of fruits, branches, and leaves. At present, there is evidence that this diversity is declining, with certain varieties becoming difficult to find. The reasons include less replanting, deforestation, fire, flagging interest by the new generation, and rapid population growth leading to urbanization.

The seal of Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii features the hala tree, in part because lauhala, the art of weaving with the leaves of that tree, is pivotal to the history of the island, with everything from houses to pillows being made in this fashion. Local legend tells of an aged Hawaiian couple who lived long ago above the present Punahou campus, and had to travel far for water. They prayed each night for a spring, but to no avail. Finally one night, in a dream answering their prayers, they were told to uproot the stump of an old hala tree. They did as they were told and found a spring of clear, sweet water, which they named Ka Punahou, the New Spring. According to legend, Punahou School's lily pond is fed by this same spring.{{Citation needed paragraph|date=August 2021}}

File:Pandanus tectorius fruit (riped).JPG|Ripe fruit

File:Pandanus.jpg|Fruit

File:Pandanus tectorius (5187732877).jpg|Roots

File:Owoce Pandan.jpg|Close up of keys, or stamen

File:Pandanus tectorius aerial roots trained as an arch at Guam Zoo, Tumon.jpg|Aerial roots trained as an arch, Guam Zoo

• Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
• List of endemic plants in the Mariana Islands

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• [http://www.um.es/eubacteria/Pandanus_tectorius.jpg Pandanus tectorius from Foster Garden, Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawai'i] [http://www.um.es/eubacteria/plantae.html World plants, visual gallery] University of Murcia. Spain
• NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change [http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/vegetation/PandanusDieback.htm]
• Australian Native Plants - John W. Wrigley & Murray Fagg {{ISBN|1-876334-90-8}}
• Christenhusz, M.J.M. (2009). Typification of ornamental plants: Pandanus tectorius (Pandanaceae). Phytotaxa 2: 51–52.
• [http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/puhala/ The World's Best Photos of puhala], Flickr Hive Mind, flickrhivemind.net, related pictures, also the fruits partially dismantled

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tectorius

Category:Oceanian cuisine

Category:Gilbertese cuisine

Category:Marshallese cuisine

Category:Micronesian cuisine

Category:Polynesian cuisine

Category:Flora of Malesia

Category:Flora of Papuasia

Category:Flora of New South Wales

Category:Flora of Queensland

Category:Flora of the Pacific

Category:Plants described in 1773

Category:Edible fruits

Category:Austronesian agriculture