344 TTSP^KFL I'LANTS OK (il'AM, 



and wlifii old aro covorod willi short, hIkii]) i)rotn)u'raiR'('s, like stont spincn; leaves 

 rrowik'd at tin- ends of the Itraiiches, j^reeii, not <rlaiicons, !l() to i"i(l cm. loii^, al)out 

 7. a cm. hroad at the l)ase, jirickly on tlie niarj^ins and alon^ the keeled midrih, 

 cniiaceous, eoarsi', not \eiy jiliaMc nor strong;; druj)es arranjred in a solid Kumd or 

 oval head, somewhat ri'send)iin<i a iiineai>j)le abont the sizi' of a man's iieatl, numer- 

 ons, toj)-shaj)ed, hlnnt at the ai)ex, angular, '•'>.'•> to 7.o cm. lonji and 2.5 to M cm. 

 hroad at the end, eacii composed of several carpels, of which one is central and tlie 

 others groni)ed around it; tiie top divided liy shallow grooves into as many parts as 

 there are carpels; fruit fragrant wiien rii)e, often burstmg open wlieii falling to the 

 ground; siiles of drui)es yellow or orange. 



The ripe fruit is muidi eaten by flying foxes {Pleropus keraudreni) and rats {Mn: 

 (lecumanus), which abound on the island, Itut it is not a food staple of the natives. 

 Tlie kernel of the seed is almond-like in shape, of tlie consisteney of 1)eechnnts, and 

 the flavor of otto of roses. It is occasionally eaten liy the natives as a relish, but 

 is too small to repay one for the trouble of picking it out. The trunks are often 

 used for building temporary ranches or farm dwellings; they are not very durable. 

 Advantage! is taken of the dichotoinous branching of the limbs to make suj-iports for 

 platforms. Water troughs are made of straiglit trunks of si)ecimens from the forest, 

 l)ut they soon decay. Along the roadsides and near dwellings trees of kafo are seen 

 witii their trmiks notched in such a manner as to make a reservoir for the rain 

 water which is caught by the leaves and drains down the trunk. Often the presence 

 of a good tree of this kind determines the place where a ranch shall be built. The 

 limbs are also fine chicken roosts, not an unimportant matter in the domestic 

 economy of the natives. In the forests the trunk sometimes rises to a height of 7 

 meters, straight and smooth, before branching. The heartwood of the old trees is 

 hard and palm-like. It is made into walking sticks. 

 References : 



Pandaniifi fragrans Brongn. Ann. Sci. Nat. YI. 1: 274. t. 15. f. 10. 1875. 



Pandanus tectorius. Textile screwpine. Plate vii. 



Local names. — Aggag, Aggak, Akgak (cluam); Pandan, Sabotan (Philippines); 

 Fala, Lau-fala (Samoa); Ilala, Lan-hala (Hawaii). 



A small tree with a trunk, which usually begins to branch very low, the branches 

 often bending downward nearly to the ground; leaves long, sword-shaped, armed 

 witli spines on the margin and keel, differing in color and texture from those of the 

 other species on the island, being glaucous and of great textile strength. Only one. 

 sex occurs on the island, so that it must be propagated by cuttings. These take root 

 readily; indeed, a branch lying on the surface will often send out roots which pene- 

 trate the ground. The natives frecpiently plant tills sj>ecies in hedges, which serve 

 the double purpose of defining their boundaries and of furnishing material for cord- 

 age and for mats, hats, and bags. 



Dried leaves stripped of the rigid, spiny keel, are used either in their simple form 

 or twisted together as lashings for tlie framework of buildings and for securing thatch 

 to the rf)of. For making mats, liats, and l)ags tlie leaves are steeped in hot water, 

 st:raped and split into strips of various widths according to the fineness of the 

 fabric desired, dried in the sun, and thoroughly cleaned. Mats are braided with 

 the strips crossing diagonally, as in the mats of the eastern Polynesians, not woven 

 with warp and woof as are the mats of many of the Micronesians. Some of the hats 

 and small bags are very fine. In the early days tlie natives of Guam made their 

 sails of aggak lt!aves. The plant was undoubtedly introduced into tlie island in pre- 

 historic times. In India, where Pandanus tectorius is cultivated, male trees are very 

 common, but female tret's are of very rare occurrence.^' 



« Solms-Laubach, Monographia Pandanacearum, Linuica, vol. 42, p. 38, 1878. 



