Revision of the Genus Pandanus Stickman, Part 24 
Seychelles a New Section from the Seychelles Islands 
Harold St. John 1 
Seychelles sect. nov. (subgen. Pandanus ) 
Carpellis binis conmatis, stigmatibus binis 
arcuatis in lateribus oppositis cavitonis termi- 
nal! affixis, cavo cum stigmatibus falsis cordatis 
multis, dissepimento lato toto ex fibris longi- 
tudinalibus distinctis multis formatis. Arbor 
cum syncarpiis grandibus sphaericis. 
Carpels 2, connate throughout; stimas 2, like 
slender arcs on opposite sides of the terminal 
cavity which is filled with many elevated, cor- 
date, unequal structures that imitate stigmas; 
dissepiment with a pale, thin, cartilaginous tis- 
sue next to each seed, then all the rest of the 
broad interior solely of many, strong, separate, 
longitudinal fibers. Tree with large spherical 
syncarps. 
holotypus: Pandanus Hornei Balf. f., in 
Baker, FI. Mauritius and Seychelles 397, 1877. 
This species, when described, was not placed 
in a section. Later it was assigned to section 
V insoma by Warburg (Pflanzenreich IV, 9:54, 
57, 1900), and with this placement Martelli 
concurred (Webbia 4(1) :94, 1913). In his 
redefinition of the sections, the present writer 
placed it in section Dauphinensia (Pacific Sci. 
15(3) :34l, 1961). He now removes it from 
there and makes it the type of a new section. 
Like the Madagascar species of section Martelli- 
dendron, it is remarkable for having the dis- 
sepiment between the seed cavities formed not 
of a solid, bony tissue, but of a mass of distinct, 
longitudinal fibers. Also the two arclike stigmas, 
on opposite edges of the apical disc or con- 
cavity, are very similar. 
As for differences, the section Martelliden- 
dron, with 4 species from Madagascar, has the 
dissepiment solely of loose, longitudinal fibers; 
the phalange apex truncate, with an elliptic, 
firm disc, divided into quarters by deep valleys; 
the 2 stigmas lateral on opposite sides of the 
1 B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii 96819. 
Manuscript received March 11, 1963. 
disc. The section Seychellea has the dissepiment 
of pale, thin, cartilaginous tissue next to each 
seed face, then all the rest of its broad interior 
made solely of many strong, separate, longi- 
tudinal fibers; the 2 arclike or parenthesis-like 
stigmas lateral on opposite sides of the rim of 
the apical cavity which is filled with many 
cordate pseudo-stigmas. 
Judging by Martelli’s illustration (Webbia 
4(1) :t. 16, fig. 2, 1913) the fruit would be a 
1-celled drupe. His specimen has been examined. 
He had a whole syncarp, but sectioned only one 
phalange. He made the cut between the two 
stigmas, just shaving the fibrous dissepiment, 
and cleaving only one of the two seed cavities. 
That the other seed cavity is there can be told 
by pushing a needle through the fibrous dis- 
sepiment. The phalanges seem to be always 2- 
celled. A new drawing is presented here to 
bring out the diagnostic structure of the dis- 
sepiment. 
Fig. 244. Pandanus Hornei Balf. f. in Baker. 
Transverse section of phalange, showing fibrous 
septum, two seed cavities, endocarp, fibrous mesocarp, 
and exocarp, X 1. Drawn from Isole Seychelles (fi). 
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