Common name: Forky-Tree, Pandanus, Screw Pine
Pandanus forsteri C.Moore & F.Muell. APNI* Synonyms: Pandanus fosteri APNI*
Description: Trees to 13 m tall with numerous sharp wart-like outgrowths. Prop roots up to 5 m long.
Leaves strap-shaped, 1–1.5 m long, 3–5 cm broad, very long pointed, deeply grooved above, sharply spinulose on margins and midrib beneath.
Male inflorescences terminal, 30–50 cm long, with white spathaceous bracts. Female inflorescences terminal, in compound spheroidal heads.
Fruit spheroidal, c. 20 cm diam., reddish green; phalanges slightly obconoid, 5 cm long, 4 cm broad, each surmounted by 4 or 5 conical remains of carpel apices; walls hard and fibrous.
Flowering: Flowers January–mid April
Distribution and occurrence: Endemic to Lord Howe Island. Common and locally frequent from low elevations to about 400 m altitude.
NSW subdivisions: LHI
Text by P.S. Green (1994) Taxon concept: P.S. Green (1994)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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