Pandanus iceryi ( "Vacoas") is a species of plant in the family Pandanaceae.
Description
This is a tall (10m), unbranched tree - the only Mauritian
Pandanus species to grow as one single, tall, palm-like trunk, without any branches. The bright-green leaves end abruptly at the tip, and are armed on the sides with small, white spines.
Uniquely, the pale-coloured, oval fruit-head hangs from the main trunk of the plant. Each fruit-head is packed with c.40 drupes.
[Vaughan RE, Wiehe PO (1953) The genus Pandanus in the Mascarene Islands. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany 55(356): 1-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1953.tb00001.x.][Strahm, W.A. 1993. The conservation and restoration of the flora of Mauritius and Rodrigues. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (2 vols.), Reading University, UK.][Vaughan, R.E. and Wiehe, P.O. 1953. Flore des Mascareignes, Genus Pandanus. The Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius, ORSTOM, Paris and RBG, Kew.]
Habitat
Its natural
habitat is dense forest on
Mauritius. It was formerly known from several localities around the island, such as Piton du Milieu,
Cent Gaulettes and Fressanges. However the habitat at all these localities has been destroyed. It is threatened by
habitat loss and it was thought to be extinct. It was rediscovered in the Vallée de Ferney forests with
Pandanus macrostigma in 2004. Currently only a few individual plants remain in the wild, although it is now cultivated in Mauritius.
