D50 ORDER PANDANE^J. 



Britain. It has been estimated that the total number of species 

 may probably amount to a thousand, many hundreds no doubt 

 yet remaining to be discovered. 



726. Allied to the Palms in the arborescent character of their 

 stems, and In some degree, also, in the structure of their organs 

 of fructification, is the small order of PANDANE.E, or Screw-pines. 

 Their chief peculiarities consist in the spiral arrangement of the 

 leaves, from which the common name is derived; and in the 

 peculiar mode in which the roots descend, to which attention has 

 already been directed (. 110). The flowers are dioecious or 



Fio. 196. PANDANUS, OR SCREW PINK, a, b, e, aerial roots partly serving as stems ; 

 d, e, roots not yet reaching the ground. 



polygamous ; the perianth is wholly wanting, and there is only 

 a single stamen. The fruit generally consists of carpels partly 

 adherent, and each containing a single seed. A large number of 

 flowers are clustered, as in the Palms, on a single spadix. The 

 best known species of this order is cultivated by the Malays and 



