Pandanus palustris

Pandanus palustris
Conservation status
	; Critically Endangered (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Pandanales
Family:	Pandanaceae
Genus:	Pandanus
Species:	P. palustris
Binomial name
	Pandanus palustris; Thouars[2]
Synonyms[2]
	Vinsonia palustris (Thouars) Gaudich. ;

Pandanus palustris ("Vacoas des marais") is a species of plant in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to Mauritius. It was once common in marshes and in the wetter highlands of Mauritius, but is now threatened by habitat loss.

Description

Drupes of Pandanus palustris (far right). Illustration from 1836-7.

A tall (8–10 m), erect, solitary tree, with a large, dense rosette of slender, drooping, pale-green leaves. The leaf margins are completely lined with tiny cream coloured spines, that often develop brown tips. Older leaves are persistent at the base of the rosette.

This species can also be distinguished from its closest relatives by its very large, round fruit-heads, which are partially enclosed in protective leafy bracts. Each fruit-head is packed with 40-60 drupes. Each enormous, green-brown, 3-6-locular drupe has a raised, pyramid-like free portion, and has a deeply cleft tip. The drupe is also topped by large (6-10mm wide), irregular, fleshy stigmas. Similar to Pandanus pyramidalis, the joined portion of the drupes inside the fruit-head becomes light-yellow when ripe.[3][4][5]

References

Page, W. (1998). "Pandanus palustris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998: e.T34317A9858233. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
"Pandanus palustris". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
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 Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.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.

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[iucn-1] Page, W. (1998). "Pandanus palustris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998: e.T34317A9858233. Retrieved 27 January 2020.

[WCSP-2] "Pandanus palustris". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 January 2020.

[3] 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.

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 Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.

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