panama-hat palm

(botany) A monofamilial order of monocotyledonous plants; members are more or less arborescent and sparingly branched, with numerous long, firm, narrow, parallel-veined leaves that usually have spiny margins.

An order of monocotyledons, the composition of which only recently has been revealed by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence studies of four genes. Included are four families. Pandanaceae (800 species; the screw pine family), Cyclanthaceae (230 species; the Panama hat family), Stemonaceae (35 species), and Velloziaceae (200 species). Pandanaceae are often lianas or large herbs from the Old World; Cyclanthaceae are herbs or lianas from the New World tropics; Stemonaceae are herbs or lianas of the Old World (but with one species in the southeastern United States); and Velloziaceae are herbs or small shrubs of Africa and particularly South America (with one genus in southwest China). Cyclanthaceae, Pandanaceae, and Stemonaceae have flower parts in twos or fours, which is unusual among monocotyledons, in which threes are most common.

Several species in Pandanales are economically important. The leaves of Pandanaceae are fibrous and used for making rope and roofing, and the fruits are eaten in many areas. Cyclanthaceae leaves are fibrous and have similar uses, including the manufacture of Panama hats. See also Arecidae; Liliopsida; Magnoliophyta; Plant kingdom.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: families Typhaceae; Sparganiaceae; Pandanaceae
  Synonym: order Pandanales

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Pandanales Fossil range: 75 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Late Cretaceous - Recent
Carludovica palmata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Pandanales Lindl.
Families
see text

Pandanales is an order of flowering plants, with a pantropical distribution.

The APG II system, which places this in the monocots, the order consists of five families:

• Cyclanthaceae
• Pandanaceae
• Stemonaceae
• Triuridaceae
• Velloziaceae

Thus circumscribed, the order includes palm-like trees, shrubs, lianas, and herbs.

In older plant classifications, The circumscription in APG II is a slight change from that in the 1998 APG system, which used the circumscription:

• Cyclanthaceae
• Pandanaceae
• Stemonaceae
• Velloziaceae

The Cronquist system (1981) placed the order in subclass Arecidae in class Liliopsida [=monocotyledons] with only one family:

• Pandanaceae

The Wettstein system (1935) placed the order in class Monocotyledones and used a different circumscription, incorporating:

• Pandanaceae
• Sparganiaceae
• Typhaceae

The Bentham & Hooker system (1883) had a similar order under the name Nudifloreae, incorporating:

• Pandaneae
• Cyclanthaceae
• Typhaceae
• Aroideae
• Lemnaceae

Uses

Several species in this order produce strap-like leaves that are used for basketry; Pandanus (Pandanaceae) is used across Oceania for thatch, basketry, and to make cloth, and Carludovica palmata (Cyclanthaceae) leaves are made into Panama hats.

References

• Missouri Botanical Garden: Pandanales

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