PANDANACEÆ.
Pandanacea: genus novum,[434](♀ flowers only and leaf collected). The only locality where I found it was the summit of Faro Island, where it grows to a height of fifty feet, and has a long white female branching spadix, three to four feet in length. The same, or a near ally, was obtained by Signor Beccari in Jobi Island, off New Guinea. (Vide [page 289].)
[434] I learn from Professor Oliver that Count Solins confirms the generic distinctness.
The natives distinguish several species of Pandanus trees, of which I was only able to obtain the fruit. The “darashi” “sararang,” and “pota,” grow at the coast, and have a height of from thirty to forty feet. The “darashi” has narrow leaves, and, if the ground is not rocky, aerial roots are often absent: the fruit is smaller than that of the two other littoral pandanus trees. The “sararang” has broad leaves, and always aerial roots: the fruit is often more than a foot in diameter. The “pota” has broad leaves, with contracted acuminate apices, two inches long: the fruit is about a foot in diameter: aerial roots are always present, and rise often fifteen feet from the ground. The segments of these pandanus trees all contain edible kernels. The broad leaves of the “pota” are employed in making mats. . . . There is another pandanus tree, the “samala” of the natives, which often grows away from the coast, as on the banks of streams: it has an erect, stout trunk, thirty-five to forty feet high, without aerial roots, and does not branch.
Freycinetia sp. . .
Freycinetia sp. . .
Nipa fruticans.
PALMACEÆ.
Cyrtostachys sp. . . vulgo “Sensisi.” Growing up to fifty feet high on the banks of streams.
Palmacea dub. (cf. Drymophloeus): vulgo “Kisu.” Growing seventy to eighty feet high. The tough sheathing at the bases of the branches is employed for making the native dishes.