Pandanus obeliscus

Pandanus obeliscus is a screwpine, or pandan endemic to Madagascar, Its common name is vacoua en pyramide. It is up to 60 ft in height and up to 3 ft in diameter at breast height. By reason of its very thick primary growth it may be the most massive (heaviest) of all pandans. P. obeliscus belongs to a section of the genus (acanthostyla) which are collectively called the "coniferoids" which have large linear leaves on the main axis (trunk) which are called "crown megaphylls" and can be up to 12 ft long by six inches (15 centimeters) in width. As these age, they fall away and are replaced by hundreds of side shoots with very much smaller leaves - six inches (15 centimeters) long by only about one-half inch (about one cm) in width. which are responsible for giving the tree its conifer-like appearance. The species was first described in 1808. These side branches frequently divide pseudodichotomously. Some taxonomists regard P. obeliscus and P. pulcher to be conspecific.