Pandanus tectorius baptistii

Description

Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Pandanus tectorius grows natively from the Philippines through the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. It is found in parts of Malesia (the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Maluku Islands and the Philippines), throughout Papuasia, and in most of the tropical Pacific. In Australia, it is native to an area from Port Macquarie in New South Wales to northern Queensland. Both the USA and the Hawaiian Islands recognize only one indigenous species, P. tectorius. Its exact native range is unknown due to extensive cultivation; it may be an early Polynesian introduction to many of the more isolated Pacific islands on which it occurs. These islands include Micronesia and Melanesia. In Hawaii, P. tectorius is found natively on all the main islands except Kahoʻolawe, and it is known to have predated human settlement, based on seed and pollen samples taken from Kauaʻi's Makauwahi Cave. Pandanus tectorius naturally grows in coastal regions, such as on mangrove margins and beaches, at elevations from sea level to 610 m (2,000 ft). It requires 1,500–4,000 mm (59–157 in) of annual rainfall and seasons will fluctuate from wet to dry.