There
are a few different kinds of pandanus trees in Australia.
These plants are not
closely related to
palm
trees.
There are about 600 species of them in the world, and different
species vary in size.
They commonly have a broad canopy and heavy
fruits, leaves and branches which is why they often grow large prop
roots to support all that weight.
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Uses of Fruit and Leaf in Australia
They are either male or female plants. They have large fruit
that turns gradually from green to red as they mature. The fruit is
eatable in many species and Aboriginal
People used pandanus fruits as medicine
and food.
Their leaves are heavy and strong, and were also used by indigenous
people for clothing, fishing and as decorations. Animals like bats,
crabs and rats are also known to eat their
fruit. Screw
Palm
(P spiralis) is the commonest
species in Australia. It is found in the whole Kimberley region
in Western
Australia, the northern third of the Northern
Territory, and the whole Cape York
peninsula including inland, and further south until Mackay
coast.
It grows up to 12m high, and it’s got prop roots, a brown trunk, dull
green leaves with a whitish bloom, small white flowers and fruits
arranged in pineapple-like clusters.
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Screw Pine (P
tectorius) is the
largest species that can grow up to 18m high, and has prop roots, pale
grey trunk, mid-green to bluish-green leaves, and fruits in
pineapple-like clusters. It is found along the eastern coast of
Australia between Byron
Bay in New
South Wales and the top of Cape York peninsula
in Queensland.
Pandanus (P gemmifer)
grows up to 8m
high, has prop roots, a pale brown trunk, dark green, thick leathery
leaves, and fruits that are arranged in pineapple-like clusters. It is
found along the coast of northern
Queensland between Innisfail in south and
Iron Range National Park on the Cape
York
peninsula in north.
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River Pandanus (P aquaticus)
is the
smallest species in Australia. It grows up to 5m tall and has a
pinkish-brown trunk, creamy-white flowers, bluish-green leaves and
green fruits that turn red as they ripen, arranged in globular
clusters. It is found in the Top End of Northern Territory,
and in a few small pockets in the Kimberley
region in Western Australia, and Lawn
Hill National Park area in north-western outback
Queensland.
Note:
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correct in the language used in Australia.
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