Thatch screwpine

Pandanus fruit is a staple food in Kiribati – a dried paste made from it could keep for months and saw islanders through droughts.

The thatch screwpine is a small tree with a branched trunk propped up on slanting stilt roots and long, spirally arranged, spiny leaves. Its large fruit heads resemble a pineapple; when ripe they break up into orange, fibrous segments whose sweet base is sucked or cooked. Many varieties of pandanus are grown in Kiribati, propagated from branch cuttings. The leaves are the main material for weaving mats, baskets and thatch, and the trunks are used for building.

Significance in the country

Cooked pandanus pulp is made into a dried paste, te tuae, which was the most important food reserve for droughts and long voyages. Weaving mats from pandanus leaves is still an important skill among I-Kiribati women.

Where it grows

On all inhabited atolls, planted near settlements; the wetter northern and central Gilbert Islands have the richest choice of varieties.

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