places use the
flowers in making an aromatic water, or, by distillation, a volatile
oil, known as keura oil, which is used medicinally for rheumatism.

Certain pandan fruit is extremely oily and serves at times as a
substitute for butter. The sap has the taste of sweet apples and is
relished by the inhabitants in many islands. In some places it is
even made into fruit jam.

The very young leaves, especially those surrounding the flowers,
are eaten raw or cooked, and constitute an important article of diet
when a famine sweeps India.

Kinds of Pandans.

The Common Seashore Pandan.

In a walk of half a mile or, at most, a mile along the beach of any
of the seacoast provinces in the Philippines, one is almost sure
to come across Pandanus tectorius. A map showing the distribution
of this pandan would therefore be practically an outline map of the
Islands. The species does not grow in nipa swamps, though immediately
back of them it will be found well established. Neither could one
expect to find it in localities where the cliffs come down abruptly
to the sea, permitting only the existence of vegetable life of the
lowest form.

Pandan is its usual name in the Philippines. In Zambales it is called
"panglan" or "panglan babai." Another name is "pangdan."

The stem is not very strong, and reaches a height of from 3 to 6
meters. It is generally supported by aerial roots. The leaves are of
medium thickness, on the average 1.35 m. long and 6 cm. wide. They are
provided with strong sharp spines about 5 mm. in length. These are
curved forward and are as much as one centimeter, or a little more,
apart. The spines on the under surface of the midrib are shorter
and farther apart, but bend in the same direction. The male flowers
form a spike and these are surrounded by very fragrant leaves called
spathes. The fruit is 20 cm. long, 18 cm. wide, and contains from 50
to 80 drupes, each about 5.5 cm. long and 2.5 to 3 cm. wide. The upper
half of the drupes are free but close together. There are small furrows
on the tops of the drupes, rather deep but not very distinct. When
ripe the fruit has a fine red color and the drupes fall from the head.

Pandanus tectorius is of considerable importance in nearly all parts
of the world where it grows, and it is devoted to most of the uses
already noted for pandans in general. In certain places, large
industries are founded on it. In India, the leaves are cut every
second year and made