Srengseng (Benstonea kurzii)

Srengseng (Benstonea kurzii) is a species of plant in the Pandanaceae, shrub, 1-2 meters high, short stems or no trunks, 2 cm in diameter at the lower end, brownish, without spines, mostly or completely lying on the ground or climbing on the stems other plants and without root.

B. kurzii has ribbon-shaped leaves, narrow, 92-150 cm long, 2.5-4.0 cm wide, chartaceous, two linear folds, cross section forming the letter M and a prominent vein on the underside. Thorns along the margins and veins of the lower side.



Compound fruit, almost round to broadly oval, 5.5-8 cm long, 3.5-4.3 cm wide and composed of 168-308 drupe. The fruit is brown, single and erect at the end of the stem.

Srengseng grows at an elevation of 20-1000 meters, in tropical rain forests. The leaves are traditionally woven to make a kind of mat, hood or wrapper for brown sugar.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Pandanales
Family: Pandanaceae
Genus: Benstonea Callm. & Buerki in Candollea 67: 328 (2012)
Species: Benstonea kurzii (Merr.) Callm. & Buerki in Candollea 67: 335 (2012)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Pandanus caricosus Kurz in J. Bot. 5: 100 (1867)
Pandanus kurzii Merr. in Interpr. Herb. Amboin.: 107 (1917)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Pandanus asper H.St.John in Pacific Sci. 28: 79 (1974)

PUBLICATIONS

Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6. Scientific Data 8: 215.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Srengseng
Indonesia: Srengseng
Java: Srengseng

Aryo Bandoro
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