Pandanus elatus

Pandanus elatus is a dioecious tropical plant in the screwpine genus. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin elatus (tall), in reference to its growth habit.[2]

Pandanus elatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Pandanales
Family: Pandanaceae
Genus: Pandanus
Species:
P. elatus
Binomial name
Pandanus elatus

Description

Pandanus elatus is an erect tree, with basal prop roots, that grows to 20 m in height. Its leaves grow to 3 m long and 100 mm wide, dark green and with marginal prickles. The plants do not form the densely tangled thickets that characterise P. christmatensis.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Found only on Christmas Island, the tree is found on deeper soils in the rainforest, sometimes in small groves.[2]

Taxonomy

The tree is closely related to P. leram Jones, of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the southern coasts of Sumatra and western Java.[2]

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References

Notes
  1. Ridley (1906).
  2. Flora of Australia Online.

Sources
  • Ridley, H.N. (1906). Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 45: 239. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • "Pandanus elatus Ridl". Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study. 1993. Retrieved 2010-11-23.


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