pandanus may be bitter and astringent. Karuka nuts (P. julianettii) are an important staple food in New Guinea. Over 45 cultivated varieties are known. Entire households will move, and in some areas will speak a pandanus language at harvest time. The taste is like coconut or walnuts. Throughout Oceania, almost every part of the plant is used, with various species different from those used in Southeast Asian cooking. Pandanus trees provide materials for housing; clothing and textiles including the manufacture of dilly bags (carrying bags), fine mats or ie toga; sails, food, medication, decorations, fishing, and religious uses. In the Vanuatu Archipelago, natives make woven fish traps from the hard interior root of the Pandanus, made like a cage having a narrow entrance. Selected species Note: several species previously placed in Pandanus subgenus Acrostigma are now in the distinct genus Benstonea. Pandanus aldabraensis H.St.John Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. ex Lindl. – pandan Pandanus balfourii Martelli Pandanus barkleyi Balf.f. Pandanus boninensis Warb. Pandanus candelabrum P.Beauv. Pandanus carmichaelii R.E.Vaughan & Wiehe Pandanus ceylanicus Solms Pandanus christmatensis Martelli Pandanus clandestinus Stone Pandanus conglomeratus Balf.f. Pandanus conoideus Lam. Pandanus decastigma B.C.Stone Pandanus decipiens Martelli Pandanus decumbens Solms Pandanus drupaceus Thouars Pandanus elatus Ridl. Pandanus eydouxia Balf.f. Pandanus fanningensis H.St.John Pandanus forsteri C.Moore & F.Muell. Pandanus furcatus Roxb. Pandanus gabonensis Huynh Pandanus glaucocephalus R.E.Vaughan & Wiehe Pandanus grayorum Pandanus halleorum B.C.Stone Pandanus heterocarpus Balf.f. Pandanus iceryi Horne ex Balf.f. Pandanus incertus R.E.Vaughan & Wiehe Pandanus joskei Horne ex Balf.f. Pandanus julianettii Martelli - karuka Pandanus kaida Kurz Pandanus kajui Beentje Pandanus lacuum H.St.John ex B.C.Stone Pandanus laxespicatus Martelli Pandanus livingstonianus Rendle - Tropical Africa Pandanus leram Pandanus microcarpus Balf.f. Pandanus montanus Bory Pandanus monotheca Malay Peninsula Pandanus multispicatus Balf.f. Pandanus odorifer (Forssk.) Kuntze Pandanus obeliscus Madagascar Pandanus palustris Thouars Pandanus parvicentralis Huynh Pandanus prostratus Balf.f. Pandanus pyramidalis Barkly ex Balf.f. Pandanus rigidifolius R.E.Vaughan & Wiehe Pandanus sechellarum Balf.f. Pandanus spathulatus Martelli Pandanus spiralis R.Br. – Australian screwpine Pandanus tectorius Parkinson ex Du Roi – thatch screwpine Pandanus tenuifolius Balf f. Pandanus teuszii Warb. Pandanus thomensis Henriq. Pandanus tonkinensis B.C.Stone Pandanus utilis Bory – common screwpine Pandanus vandermeeschii Balf.f. Pandanus verecundus Stone See also – vessels of the Caroline Islands which traditionally had pandanus mat sails References Further reading Germplasm Resources Information Network: Pandanus Sorting Pandanus names Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1990). Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i. Pandanus species