Re: Pandanus edibility - fragrance? - Hawaiian pines



Cheryl Renshaw wrote:

> > Characteristic fruits of pandanus are a round aggregate of red or yellow
> > berries as much a 12 inches across, looking quite a lot like a
> > pineapple, but as far as I can ascertain they are not edible.

> In Hawaii, another local name for screwpine is "tourist pineapple" and it is
> described as "edible, if you're really desperate."
>
> Supposedly, the ubiquitous tour bus guides will point to Pandanus fruit and
> claim they are pineapples to the horticulturally illiterate tourists

This thread on Pandanus has aroused my curiosity.  According to one writer,
thaere are about 650 species of Pandanus, including a P.Pedunculataus with a 60
pound fruit. (Ouch! If Newton lived in the tropics, we might never have learned
of gravity.)   Although I was not so gullible or botanically uninformed to
believe that Pandanus is a pineapple tree, I did sort of believe a guide at a
botanical garden that said it was a starfruit (only having tasted the juice, how
was I to know?).  Browsing on the internet reveals that although P. tectorius is
referred to as "breadfruit",  the "real" breadfruit is Artocarpus.  The Pandanus
species, generically referred to in Hawaii as hale (I now know)  includes some
that have edible "nuts" - the hard end of the seed in the berry.  The male
flower is eaten in another.  They are found in coastal areas because the seeds
float, and it is believed that is how they spread among the Pacific islands.
What i did see that was interesting, is that P.odoratissimus, sometimes called
the fragrant screw pine,  is supposed to have fragrant (at least the male)
flowers.  The male flower is used to produce a flavored water, and  a couple of
historic writers have referred to the scent of the flowers (without specifying
the sex) as very strong.  So, are there any list members in tropical climes that
can attest to or comment on the fragrance of the flowers of P.odoratissimus?

Does one have to choose between fragrance (male) and fruit?

And as long as I am so far off topic, does anyone know if the pine-like tree
seen on many sandy Hawaiian shores is actually a pine, and what its name is, and
is it native or escaped?
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