Screw Pine

Screw Pine (Pandanus), a genus of plants of the natural order Pandanaceae, natives of the tropical parts of the east and of the South Sea Islands. Many of them are remarkable for their adventitious roots, with large cup-like spongioles, which their branches send down to the ground, and which serve as props. Their leaves are sword-shaped, with spiny edges, and are spirally arranged in three rows. In general appearance, when unbranched, they resemble gigantic plants of the pine-apple, whence their popular name. P. odoratissimus is a widely-diffused species; a spreading and branching tree of 25 feet high, much used in India for hedges. It grows readily in a poor soil, and is one of the first plants to appear on newly-formed islands in the Pacific. The male flowers are in long spikes, the female flowers in shorter branches. The flowers are frequently gathered before expanding, and boiled with meat. Their delightful and very powerful fragrance has made the plant a favourite everywhere. Oil impregnated with the odour of the flowers, and the distilled water of them, are highly esteemed East Indian perfumes. The seeds are eatable; and the fleshy part of the drupes, which grow together in large heads, is eaten in times of scarcity, as is the soft white base of the leaves. The terminal buds are eaten like those of palms. The spongy and juicy branches are cut into small pieces as food for cattle. The leaves are used for thatching, and their tough longitudinal fibres for making mats and cordage. The roots are spindle-shaped, and are composed of tough fibres; they are therefore used by basket-makers; and in Japan they are also used as corks. More valuable as a fibrous plant is an allied species, P. sativus or P. Vacoa, the Vacoa of Mauritius, which grows to a height of about 30 feet, but, from continual cropping of its leaves, is usually dwarfed to 6 or 10 feet. The fibres of its leaves are used for making the Vacoa bags, which rival in cheapness and usefulness the gunny-bags of India. The leaves are cut every second year. Immediately on being cut off the leaves are split into fillets, which are nearly an inch broad at the base, but taper to a point, and are 3 or 4 feet long. The aerial roots of the vacoa are so fibrous as to be used for making paint-brushes for coarse purposes.