Pandanus utilis (common screwpine, "Biyotakonoki")

Japanese name: ビヨウタコノキ （美葉蛸木）
Scientific name: Pandanus utilis

[Overview]
An evergreen tree up to 20 m tall, found along the seashore.
It produces thick prop roots.
The branches are sparse and spread sideways, and the scars of fallen leaves remain as rings.
The leaves grow in three rows on the trunk and branch tips, but because the trunk and branches are twisted, they appear to be arranged spirally.
The leaves are linear-lanceolate, 0.5–1 m long and 5–7.5 cm wide, with small reddish spines on the margins.
It is dioecious.
In Japan it flowers from spring to autumn, but the flowering time is not fixed.
The male inflorescence consists of spadices gathered in a cone shape, with several cream-colored bracts.
The female inflorescence is an elliptical spadix with a dozen or more bracts.
The flowers have neither calyx nor corolla.
The fruit is a compound fruit made up of many gathered together, 15–20 cm long, broadly elliptical and shaped like a pineapple, and it ripens to yellowish red.

[Uses]
The leaves are used for thatching roofs and as material for baskets, mats and handicrafts.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by cuttings.
In places such as Okinawa and the Ogasawara Islands it can be grown outdoors.
It is very resistant to wind and sea breeze, and also tolerates dryness.
Plant it in well-drained, humus-rich soil.
Potted plants should get plenty of sun from spring to autumn, and be brought into a sunny spot indoors in winter.
It tolerates shade, but with poor sunlight it becomes spindly and weak.
For potted plants, from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
Do not let water collect between the leaves.
Apply liquid fertilizer once every 2 weeks from spring to autumn.
Pests and diseases include leaf blight, scale insects and spider mites.

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