Revision of the Genus Pandanus Stickman, Part 5 
Pandanus of the Maidive Islands and the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean 
Harold St. John 1 
The maldive islands form a western fringe 
of atolls off the coast of India and Ceylon. Their 
flora was summarized by J. C. Willis and J. S. 
Gardiner (1901), but Pandanus has not re- 
ceived particular attention. They recorded Pan- 
danus on many of the atolls, and described their 
utilization for mats, pillows, sails, and for food. 
Three species were listed: P. odoratissimus L. 
P. Lerarn Jones ex Fontana with the doubt- 
ful synonym (? P. Hornei Balf. /.), and P. sp. 
indet. The present writer considers the first to 
be a misidentification with the Ceylonese spe- 
cies; the second, P. Lerarn, is confined to the 
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Maldive 
plant is doubtless the new P. Fosbergii St. John, 
and the third remains undetermined. Four addi- 
tional species of the affinity of P. odoratissimus 
are here described. 
Dr. F. R. Fosberg in 1956 observed and col- 
lected Pandanus on several of the islands. He 
identified (1957: 11) them as P. odoratissimus . 
His no. 36,916 is here described as P. maldive- 
cus St. John; and his no. 36,899 as P. Fosbergii 
St. John. 
Dr. W. D. Hartman was a member of the 
Yale University 1957 Expedition to the Indian 
Ocean. From his excellent collections there are 
here described several new species. 
Hartman also visited the Chagos Archipelago, 
but on his brief land excursions he found no 
Pandanus. 
SEYCHELLES ISLANDS 
The flora of these islands is well known and 
was well presented by Baker (1877). From the 
islands we know P. Balfourii Martelli, P. Hornei 
Bory, P. multispicatus Balf. /., and P. sechel- 
1 B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu 17, Hawaii, 
U. S.A. Manuscript received May 20, I960. 
larum Balf. /. Of these, Hartman in 1957 col- 
lected all but the third, and his complete speci- 
mens allowed supplements to the previously 
published descriptions. 
For Aldabra Atoll, J. C. F. Fryer (1912: 402 ) 
recorded P. Vandermeeschii Balf. /. in Baker, a 
species now considered endemic to Mauritius. 
The Aldabra specimens are in need of further 
revision, and the writer has not seen them as 
yet. 
Pandanus OF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS 
Pandanus adduensis sp. nov. (sect. Pandanus) 
Fig. 12 
NOM. VERN.: "karikayo.” 
DIAGNOSIS HOLOTYPI: Arbor 6-7 m. alta, 
corona late ovoidea, radicibus fulturosis evi- 
dentibus, foliis 150 cm. longis 6.3 cm. lads 
firme subcoriaceis ligulatis apice gradatim longe 
acuminatis apice ultimo non viso ad basem 
M-formatis, marginibus in regione basali cum 
aculeis 3-4 mm. longis 12-22 mm. distantibus 
adscendentibus forte subulatis cum basibus in- 
crassatis et apicibus obscure brunneis midnervio 
proximo infra cum aculeis 2.5-3 mm. longis 
11-30 mm. distantibus reflexis crasse subulatis 
cum basibus incrassatis, in regione mediali mar- 
ginibus cum aculeis 2-3 mm. longis 8-22 mm. 
distantibus subulatis in 30° adscendentibus, 
midnervio proximo infra inermi; in regione 
apicali aculeis 0.4-0. 6 mm. longis crasse sub- 
ulatis in 45° adscendentibus eis marginalium 
3-5 mm. distantibus illis midnervi 5-10 mm. 
distantibus adscendentibus, phalangibus 4. 5-4.9 
cm. longis 3.4-4. 1 cm. latis 3-3.7 cm. crassis 
obovoideis basi cuneata apice valde convexo, 
parte Va supera libera lateribus laevibus lu- 
cidis in sicco brunneis fere planatis anguste 
Fig. 12. Pandanus adduensis, from the holotype. a, Phalange, lateral view, X 1; b, phalange, longitudi- 
nal section, X 1; G phalange, apical view, X 1; d, tree, X 1/100; e, leaf base, lower side, X If leaf middle, 
lower side, X 1; S> l ea f apex, lower side, X 1* 
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