28 



Mai and BaskrI Weaving. 



Pandanus Work. — Useful as the Cocos, King of Palms, undoubtedly is, the 

 pandanus is more used in the Pacific region. For mats it ranks first; and for satchels, 

 sacks, or any construction where flexibility must be conjoined to toughness and dura- 

 bility' it generally displaces the stiff leaf of the coco or the harsh and less pliable coir. 



Of the genus Paiidainis there have been described half a' hundred species, chieflj? 

 found in a region of the Tropics extending from the islands off the East coast of Africa 

 to the eastern limits of Polynesia : a single species has been described from the West 



'►f-*--^^. 



FU;. 37. I'ANDANl^S GROVP: IN Pl'NA, HAWAII (iSSS). 



Indies. There is, however, great uncertainty in the differentiation of these species, 

 owing partly to the difficulty of preserving for herbaria the male flowers and large 

 female fruit resembling a large pine cone, from which the common name "screw pine", 

 but unlike the pine the pandanus cone falls to pieces when ripe or dried, the keys 

 clinging but loosely to the core. Although the trees of the Hawaiian Islands have 

 all been referred to P. odora/isstnuts, there are marked varieties in the fruit (as the fine 

 red //iia //a/a, much prized for lei among the Hawaiians) and the texture and size of 

 the leaves differ greatly, although this may be due to location and soil. In the Micro- 

 nesian region the fruit is edible and forms an important article of food, while in the 

 Hawaiian group it is not verj- palatable. Leaves in this Museum from the southern 

 islands are finer and narrower than the Hawaiian, while rolls from Guam cannot be 



