Pandanus tectorius (Screwpine)

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Pandanus tectorius Parkinson ex Zucc.

Screwpine, hala, Tahitian screwpine

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Arecidae	Palm-like plants
Order	Pandanales
Family	Pandanaceae
Genus	Pandanus
Species	tectorius

About plant names...

The hala is native to Malesia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. By Griensteidl.

The hala may also be native to Hawai‘i, or it may have been brought by the Polynesians. I used to call this the "grenade tree," because a hotel employee in Bermuda warned us that the grenade-like seedpods sometimes explode when they dry out, shredding the leaves and anything else nearby. I can't find any evidence to support this though; he conned us. Still a cool name though.

Identification: This tree reaches 30-45′ (9.1-13 m) in height. Its spiny trunk branches widely into a canopy as much as 35′ (10 m) in diameter. Leaves are long, narrow, and sharp—up to 2′ (60 cm) long and 2″ (5 cm) wide. Most varieties have spines along the edges and midribs of the leaves. The "grenades" are round or oval, consisting of multiple segments called carpels. These fruits turn yellow, orange or reddish as they ripen.

Online References:

Forest and Kim Starr’s Starr Environmental site

The University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database

Wikipedia

Www.agroforestry.net (PDF)

The National Tropical Botanical Garden

Dan Lee Ling’s Botany Pages at the College of Micronesia

Pandanus chamissonis Gaudich.

Pandanus douglasii Gaudich.

Pandanus menziesii Gaudich.

Pandanus odoratissimus auct. non L. f.

Pandanus odoratissimus L. f. var. laevigatus Martelli