Skip to main content

Thatch screwpine (Pandanus tectorius)

Pandan duri or pandan tikar or thatch screwpine (Pandanus tectorius) are species of tree-like plants in Pandanaceae, dioesis, are highly variable in shape and character, have many varieties and some are cultivated for different purposes.

P. tectorius is a wide-branched shrub, 3-7 m high and sometimes has many trunks. Roots and hanging roots have a large size and striking. Ribbon-shaped leaves, 70-250x3-9 cm, stiff, bluish green and waxy, parallel with bones, spines on the edges and underside of the leaf bone.

Dlium Thatch screwpine (Pandanus tectorius) #Dlium @Dlium

The leaves gather tightly at the end of a branch in 3 rows arranged in a spiral with the base hugging the stem to leave a ring-shaped mark. Hanging male flowers, 25-60 cm long, 10-20 side branches, veiled in a white-yellow sheath that smells good. The female flowers are aloof, rounded hump shaped and 5 cm in diameter.

Compound fruit has many variations for shape, size and color. Shapes ranging from ovoid, ellipsoid, almost round and full ball. Length 8-30x4-20 cm on the center line. Phalanges are ovoid inverted to oblong, 2.5-11x1.5-6.7 cm and the skin is green, yellow, orange and red when ripe.

Mesocarp is white, fiber and filled with air at the tip, yellow to orange or red-orange at the base. Ovoid seeds, pushing or oval and 6-20 millimeters long. Often grow in sandy and rocky areas at an altitude of 0-610 m, rainfall 1500-4000 mm/year, adapt in various of soil including quartz sand, coral sand, peat, limestone and basalt.

Pandan duri is tolerant of high salt content and continuous gusts of wind, like the soil with a pH of 6-10. It grows very well in full sun, but can also grow well with a shade of 30-50%.







Different varieties produce different benefits. Generally P. tectorius is cultivated for soft and strong leaves to be woven, others for male flowers that smell nice to scent the room, clothes or perfume. Another variety for delicious fruit.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Pandanales
Family: Pandanaceae
Genus: Pandanus
Species: Pandanus tectorius
Varieties: Pandanus tectorius var. tectorius

Popular Posts

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...