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1.85-2.73 m long, 16-17.5 cm wide near the 
base where the spines begin, 10-10.5 cm wide 
at the middle, thick coriaceous, gently curved, 
but breaking across about % of the way out, 
above olive-green, below light green, broad 
V-furrowed above the midrib, in the outer half 
the two lateral quarters horizontal but not 
pleated, at midsection with 70 parallel secondary 
veins in each half, no visible tertiary veins, blade 
sword-shaped, gradually tapering to the stiff, 
trigonous subulate apex, this at the point 10 cm 
down 9 mm wide, the base unarmed, white, 
with entire lateral flanges 25-33 cm long, 12- 
17 mm wide, membranous margined, beginning 
at 26-34 cm up the margins with spines 4-7 
mm long, 5-15 mm apart, the body conic, 
greenish, the apex subulate, dark brown, the 
lower ones divergent, the next ones somewhat 
ascending; the midrib below beginning at 40 
cm up with spines 3-4 mm long, 7-12 mm 
apart, conic, acute, reflexed; at midsection the 
margins with spines of two kinds, the larger 
ones 3.5-5 mm long, 13-20 mm apart, arcuate 
heavy subulate serrae, white with brown tips, 
the alternating smaller ones 2-2.8 mm long, 
12-17 mm apart, similar; the nearby midrib 
below with spines like the smaller marginal 
ones, 1.5-2 mm long, 6-15 mm apart; along 
the subulate apex the margins with subulate- 
serrae 1-1.9 mm long, 2-3 mm apart, and often 
doubly serrate; the midrib below with similar 
teeth 4-8 mm apart; infructesence terminal, 
erect, bearing 11 ascending syncarps attached 
in 3 rows; peduncle 46 cm long, 5.5 cm in 
diameter at apex, distinctly clavate, 3-sided, 
with a few leafy bracts, these with an entire 
sheathing base, then a foliaceous blade 1.63 m 
long, 12 cm wide at base, tapering all the way 
to the subulate tip, the margins and midrib 
below with heavy white spines; rhachis 25 cm 
long; syncarps crowded, 17.5-21 cm long, 
6-7.5 cm in diameter, cylindric, obtuse, but 
the proximal face flat or nearly so, bearing 
9 6-145 phalanges in mostly vertical rows; core 
fleshy and fibrous, 15-25 mm in diameter; 
phalanges 22-25 mm long, 16-23 mm wide, 
14-22 mm thick (in a double 34 mm wide and 
with 11 carpels), still green, but apparently 
fully grown and as large as the old, fallen 
ones, becoming yellow, the lower part oblong, 
upper y s free and oblate pyramidal ovoid, 6- 
angled, the apical area shallow concave, 6-11 
mm wide, circular or elliptic, 3-7-celled, the 
stigmas always on the periphery; stigmas 
1.5-2 mm wide, ovate to reniform or elliptic, 
brown, papillose, mostly centrifugal, but rarely 
a few tangential or centripetal, and prolonged 
beyond the central crease is a deep sinus 
0.5-1 mm long; endocarp inframedian, 
12-15 mm long, bony, dark brown, the lateral 
walls 1.5-3 mm thick, the inner surfaces smooth, 
shining; seeds 6-8 mm long, ellipsoid; apical 
mesocarp of continuous pith with a few strong 
longitudinal fibers; basal mesocarp scant, fleshy 
and fibrous. 
holotypus: Madagascar, "Est: Cest l’espece 
la plus commune sur les dunes de la cote 
littorale de Fort-Dauphin, a Mananjary, Bas 
Matitanana, Oct. 1911 (Perrier de la Bathie, 
n° 11888).” (p). 
SPECIMEN HERE described: Malagasy Re- 
publika, 2 km N of Fort-Dauphin, thicket on 
coastal sand dunes, with "voanat” (Sapotaceae) , 
"hily” ( Helmiopsis Hzly), Lycium sp., and 
Ipomoea brasiliensis, 10 m alt, Sept. 22, 1961, 
H. St. John 26,579 (bish). 
discussion: P. dauphinensis is the type spe- 
cies of the section Dauphinensia. The type 
locality of the species is on the same coast as 
the collection here described in detail, but a 
few kilometers to the north. The two collec- 
tions tally quite well, except that the holotype 
was described as with phalanges 3 cm long, 
and the syncarps 8 cm in diameter, but on the 
isotpye (fi) the phalanges are 2.6-3 cm long. 
Ours are a little narrower, and the phalanges 
are % shorter. To be sure, ours were not fully 
ripe, yet they seemed nearly full-sized and 
their seeds and endocarp were well formed. 
They were as large as the fallen, weathered ones 
on the ground. Surrounding trees of other 
genera were much shattered by a cyclone five 
months previous, but as usual the Pandanus 
trees survived in good condition. It does not 
seem likely that all the phalanges seen on the 
many trees and all the mature, fallen ones 
would be uniformly smaller owing to the cy- 
clone. In ours the carpels of the lateral phalanges 
were from 3 to 7. 
Later, when in Paris, it was possible to study 
