Pandanus leram, Pandanus odoratissimus, Pandanus pedunculatus.

Pandanus leram Jones. Pandanaceae.

Nicobar Islands. In the Nicobar Islands, the immense fruit cones consist of several single, wedge-shaped fruits, which, when raw, are uneatable, but, boiled in water and subjected to pressure, they give out a sort of mealy mass. This is the melori of the Portuguese and the larohm of the natives. It is also occasionally used with the fleshy interior of the ripe fruit and forms the daily bread of the islanders. The flavor of the mass thus prepared strongly resembles that of apple marmalade and is by no means unpalatable to Europeans.

Pandanus odoratissimus Linn. f. Breadfruit. Pandang. Screw Pine.

The terminal bud is eaten under the name of cabbage; the tender white base of the leaves is also eaten raw or boiled, during famines. Kotzebur says it constitutes the chief food of the people of Radack. It is chewed raw for the aromatic juice and is also baked in pits.

Pandanus pedunculatus R. Br. Breadfruit. Screw Pine.

Australia and New Holland. Fraser says this plant is called breadfruit and is eagerly eaten by the natives.

Pandanus sp.? Screw Pine.

Under the name of kapupu, a staple article of food is prepared in the. islands of the Gilbert group from the soft, central portion of the fruit heads of species of pandanus. Adams says, among the Meia-co-shimah Islands, he first had the curiosity to taste the fruit of the screw pine and found it refreshing and juicy but very insipid. When perfectly mature, he continues, they certainly look very tempting and resemble large, rich-colored pineapples. The stones, though very hard, contain a pleasant kernel.


Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.