Pandanus incertus

Pandanus incertus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Pandanales
Family:	Pandanaceae
Genus:	Pandanus
Species:	P. incertus
Binomial name
	Pandanus incertus; Balf.

Pandanus incertus is a species of plant in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to Mauritius.

Description

A small, low (2-3m) tree. The 11 cm-wide trunk is grey-red, and bears only a few stilt-roots near the base of the stem. The leaves are broad, reduplicate and taper off to the grooved tip. Some specimens can resemble the related species Pandanus spathulatus.

This species is most easily distinguished by its pale, 16 cm, rounded, club-like fruit-head. This is born on a bract-lined peduncle, and is regularly packed with 100-125 domed angular drupes, with deep brown cracks at their tips.[1][2][3]

Habitat

It is endemic to Mauritius, and is critically rare in its highland habitat.[4]

References

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 Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.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.
Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds. (2018). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 20 December 2017. Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-8858.

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[1] 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.

[2] Strahm, W.A. 1993. The conservation and restoration of the flora of Mauritius and Rodrigues. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.

[3] Vaughan, R.E. and Wiehe, P.O. 1953. Flore des Mascareignes, Genus Pandanus. The Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius, ORSTOM, Paris and RBG, Kew.

[4] Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds. (2018). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 20 December 2017. Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-8858.