Pandanus simplex

Scientific name: Pandanus simplex Merr.

Local name: bankoang (Tag.), ilohan (Tag.), kalagimay (Tag.), karagumoy (Bik.,Bis., Tag.), pandan (Tag.), pandan-totoo (Tag.)

Family: Pandanaceae

Distribution: Luzon (Ifugao, Laguna, Quezon, Sorsogon), Catanduanes, Leyte, Cebu, Polillo and Catanduanes. Endemic.

Habitat: In forests at low and medium altitudes. Also planted in some places.

Description: Medium to tall pandans, from 4 to 6 m tall. Trunk is cylindric, with few branches on the upper part, and prop roots near the base. Leaves are spirally crowded at the end of the branches, elongate, linear, 3 to 5 m long, 10 to 20 cm wide, dark green, with small, sharp spines on the margins. Fruit with long stalk, cylindric, 50 to 80 cm long, 15 to 25 cm wide, gray and weighs up to 20 kg.

Conservation Notes: This native pandan grows mostly in secondary forests, in swamps and in soil with stagnant water. It is also planted in some places. It usually forms dense thickets and groves to the exclusion of other vegetation. The local people, especially in Southern Luzon, use the leaves in making mats, hats, bags, baskets and other handicrafts. The leaves are also woven and made into “tampipi” or suit cases. The pandan in the Bicol province has shorter leaves up to 3.5 m long, while the “Majayjay pandan” has leaves up to 5 m long. The plant is locally abundant and people usually do not cut the entire plant, as they only harvest the leaves for local use.

For further information contact: Domingo A. Madulid, Philippine National Museum, Botany Division, P. Burgos St., Manila. Tel 5271218. Email: [email protected]