Biosystematics of pandanaceae in Java

Abstract

Pandan family (Pandanaceae) is represented in Java by two genera, Freycinetia Gaud. and Pandanus Parkins. Since the studies by Backer and Bakhuizen van den Brink in 1968 and Stone in 1972, there were no further exploration on the pandan flora of the island have been made, thus the pandan flora remains largely unknown. Taxonomical problem as far as the Java pandans concerned, are centered not only on the species status of Pandanus odoratissimus L.f and P. tecrorius var. littoralis which are considered as synonym, but also the species status which are given as synonym of Pandanus furcatus Roxb. by Backer and Bakhuizen van den Brink. Under the latter they included of P. bantamensis Koord., P. oviger Martelli, P. pseudolais Warb., and P. scabrifolius Martelli into one species of P. furcatus Roxb. This classification is in contrast with Stone who stated that these species were regarded as four different species. Therefore an effort has been made to redescribe these species in detail, using morphological, anatomical and molecular data such as sequence data of atpB-rbcL IGS to provide better understanding of morphological, anatomical and molecular characters in supporting taxa delimitation and its distribution in Java.