Pandanus antaresensis (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Pandanus antaresensis St. John
- Family: Pandanaceae
Synonyms
P. bowersae St. John.
Vernacular names
- New Guinea: malaye (Kakoli).
Distribution
Endemic to New Guinea. In semi-cultivation in Irian Jaya.
Uses
The leaves are used for thatching and the fruit and seeds as food. P. antaresensis is applied in healing rituals to treat fever, headache, diarrhoea and difficult breathing. Fibres from the leaves are used in male initiation rituals.
Observations
A dioecious tree 8-23 m tall, trunk 16 m, upper part branched to form a crown, prop roots up to 10 m or longer. Leaves 1.8-2.3 m × 8-10 cm, coriaceous, widely U-sulcate, parallel veins 170-200, margins and upper part of midrib underside with prickles 1-3 mm long. Male inflorescence pendent, peduncle 30 cm long, rachis 1.6 m long with yellow-white bracts; spikes numerous, cylindrical, 10-16 cm × 2-3 cm; staminal phalanges 12 mm long with 3-7 stamens. Female inflorescence a large solitary head on peduncle 0.3-1 m long. Fruit an ovoid syncarp, 20-35 cm × 17-25 cm; carpellate phalanges 4-6-angled pyramidal, 7-9 cm × 4.5-6 cm × 3-5 cm, orange, apex concave, brown, stigmas 5-9; upper mesocarp with cavities, lower mesocarp fleshy-fibrous 1-1.5 cm long; endocarp 5-6 cm long, wall 4-5 mm thick. Seed cylindrical, 2-3 cm long. P. antaresensis is found in primary forest at higher elevations (1500 m or higher). It occupies the same ecological niche as P. adinobotrys Merr. et Perry. It may form extensive mixed or almost pure stands. In contrast with other pandans P. antaresensis bears fruits year-round. In Papua New Guinea the fruits are simply collected from the ground, because the prominent spiny prop roots make climbing the tree too difficult. P. antaresensis is classified by B.C. Stone in subgenus Pandanus section Excavata .
Selected sources
66, 82, 167, 168, 175, 176, 182.
Authors
M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch
