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Names: |
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| Family | Pandanaceae. |
| Genus & Species | Pandanus odoratissimus |
| AKA | Pandanus fascicularis. |
| Common Names | Kewra. Kewda. Keora. Screw pine. Pandanus. Fragrant pandan. Pandan. Hala tree. Pandan-mabango. |
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| Size/Shape | A small, slender, branching tree with a flexuous trunk supported by brace roots. Makes a good container plant. Medium height. Single trunk will branch off at the top when 2-3 meters high. In pots, does not grow over 1 meter. |
| Leaves | Rosettes of long-pointed, stiffly leathery, spiny, bluish-green leaves. Leaves spirally arranged, straplike, green. |
| Blooming Season | Summer. The male plants flower the whole year round. |
| Fragrance | Fragrant leaves. Very fragrant flowers. Kewra flowers have a sweet, perfumed odour with a pleasant quality similar to rose flowers, but kewra is more fruity. The scent of pandanus leaves develops only on withering; the fresh, intact plants hardly have any odour. A very strong, beautiful scent. You could smell this nice and beautiful perfume from far away. The leaves’s aroma is distinct and hard to describe, somewhat nutty, reminiscent to fresh hay and definitely pleasant. A similar scent is found in some aromatic rice varieties grown in South East Asia. |
| Use | The flowers together with the fleshy pulp of the pineapple-like fruit, are much used in cooking particularly in the preparation of kewra water with a flavour similar to rose water. Male flowers are made into kewra water. The leaves for cooking give a wonderful aroma to rice etc. Shred the leaves and leave them in saucers around the house to make it smell nice. Most delightful, richest, and powerful of perfumes even when dried. A strip of leaf about 10 cm (4 in) long is dropped into the pot each time rice is cooked, to perfume it. Two or three strips are simmered with curry. If a recipe calls for the extract, you can make your own extract by steeping leaves in hot water. It is used in both sweet and savory foods. Recipes:http://tinyurl.com/mahhn |
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| Propagation | Plant in a large pot. May be slow germinating, up to 6 months. |
| Soil | Well drained. |
| Water | Loves humidity but doesn't like wet or soggy roots. |
| Light | Full sun. Full or part sun. |
| Climate | Greenhouse. |
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| Source to Buy | Palmseeds. |
| http://tinyurl.com/zpuvo | |
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