Pandanaceae`Family Characteristics and Systematics

Pandanaceae - Family Characteristics and Systematics
Home Family Characteristics and Systematics Economic Uses Index- PH Pandanaceae Types and Collection Location Index- Pandanaceae at PH (General) Article on Pandanaceae Types at PH History of Ben Stone and his collections Ben Stone's Pandanaceae Classification Additional Links of Interest Pandanus sp.; adventitious roots.	Pandanaceae is a large family (3 genera, about 900 species) of trees, shrubs and root climbers found in the Old World tropical and subtropical regions, from West Africa through the Pacific. Stems have aerial prop roots to provide support. The plants display sympodial branching. The common name for pandans is 'screwpines' because their stems are twisted, so leaves appear to be spirally arranged (the leaves are in reality alternate). The stems bear prominent leaf scars from their sheathing leaves. The leaves are very long and narrow, simple, undivided, with parallel veins; the leaf margins and adaxial midribs are typically very prickly. The plants are dioecious. Inflorescences are borne terminally (rarely axillary). The inflorescences are commonly a racemose spadix with subtended bracts which may be brightly colored. The flowers themselves are minute, borne on pedicels. Female flowers have a superior ovary, usually many carpels in a ring, but may be reduced to a row of carpels or a single carpel. Male flowers contain numerous stamens arranged in a raceme or umbel with free or fused filaments. Both male and female flowers lack a calyx and corolla. Pandan fruits are berries or multilocular drupes, and in several taxa the fruits resemble pineapples. Pandanaceae is a member of the Pandanales, which also includes the Cyclanthaceae, Stemonaceae, Triuridaceae, and Velloziaceae (APG II). Here is Ben Stone's Pandanaceae Classification. Next- Economic Uses	Pandanaceae distribution. Pandanus biakensis infructescence. Harold St. John
	Home The Botany Department of the Academy of Natural Sciences Created by Bryan A. Niedenberger as part of a 2005 REU project. Additions and significant modifications by Anne Kadar Duzan, 2006.

Pandanaceae - Family Characteristics and Systematics