Re: Pandanus
- Subject: Re: Pandanus
- From: D* P*
- Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 06:54:49 +0100
Moira wrote:
>Another member of the Pandanceae is Freyncintia of which F banksii
>(Kiekie) is named as "a hothouse plant from NZ" (This is British
>publication speaking).
Now play fair Moira :) That book must have a good few years old when
almost everyone looked at a single, supposedly tropical species in a
genus and then ascribed its requirements to all other members. Or,
the info could have been plagiarised from old publications by some
wanna bee, 'expert exotics writer' (as is so often the case nowadays).
Its amazing how old dud info from Sander's Encyclopaedia of Gardening
and the like, still crops up in 'new' books from time to time!
The more flamboyant Freycinetias such as F. multiflora and stenophylla
do have some pretty wonderful flowers, but hailing mainly from the
Philippines, Indonesia & Polynesia, they tend to prefer warm humid
conditions. I'm not familiar with native NZ species so cannot comment
on their flowering. However, I would expect them to be moderately
cool tolerant.
>The same book tantalizingly mentions a species of Pandanus (P. veitchii)
>as an ornamental having glossy dark green leaves a silvery white border,
>but gives no other information.
I'm never quite sure as to the validity of this name, although I've
not seen it challenged. This was a popular and relatively common 'pot
plant' here in the early 70's and you could buy very nice specimens in
30 cms. diameter pots for relatively little money. They came in from
Holland where they were grown in considerable quantities. It is a
very attractive foliage plant when young, but needs plenty of light,
warmth and humidity to keep in good condition.
As a 'house=plant' I well remember it being a martyr to red spider and
few people could provide sufficient light in winter to prevent sickly,
yellowing, etiolated growth. It needs near perfect drainage, slightly
acidic conditions at the root, lots of water, reasonable warmth and
good light to do really well. At its best, it is a very fine, albeit
slightly treacherous plant (finely saw-edged leaves). However, as
seen in the average, centrally heated British home during darkest
winter, it lingers reluctantly, becoming yellower and yellower before
finally giving up.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
