Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Pandanales R.Br. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Pandanaceae R.Br.
Genus
Freycinetia Gaudich.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Freycinetia banksii A.Cunn., Companion Bot. Mag. 2 (1837)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Freycinetia baueriana subsp. banksii (A.Cunn.) B.C.Stone, New Zealand J. Bot. 11 (1973)
 Description

Woody but brittle perennial climber attached by roots to trunks of forest trees or in large masses on ground. Stems c. 4 cm. diam., branched, marked with scars of old lvs. Lvs ± tufted towards ends of stems, spirally arranged, to c. 150 × 2–2.5 cm.; sheathing bases pale; tips long-attenuate, triangular in T.S.; margins, and midrib abaxially, minutely and distantly spinulose. Spadices simple and solitary in axils of several ± foliaceous bracts at stem apex; bracts thick and succulent towards base, white to purplish. Peduncle 1–4 cm. long, glab., whitish; spadix at fl. c. 7 × 1.5 cm., cylindrical or slightly flattened, the axis quite hidden by tightly packed fls. ♂ of several stamens each with a long filament, ovate anther and cop. ± confluent pollen surrounding a small rudimentary ovary; limits of individual fls not easily determined. ♀ with 6–12 purplish staminodes at base of flattened, vertically elongated ovary c. 2–4 × 1 mm. × 2 mm. tall, the long sides grooved between the staminodes; stigmas c. 6–12, sessile, arranged around a long groove; locule narrow, placentae forming ridges projecting into it. Infructescence to c. 15 × 3 cm. on stiff woody peduncle. Individual frs (phalanges) c. 8 × 2 × 10 mm., compressed laterally, thin-walled proximally, broadest c. ⅓ from base and almost woody towards top. Seed c. 1 mm. long, narrow, on long, slender funicle.

[From: Moore and Edgar (1970) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 2.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Sep.–Nov.; Fruiting: Jan.–Feb.

 Bibliography
Cunningham, A. 1837: Florae insularum Novae Zelandiae precursor; or a specimen of the botany of the islands of New Zealand. Companion to the Botanical Magazine 2: 222–233, 327–336, 358–378.
de Lange, P.J.; Gardner, R.O.; Sykes, W.R.; Crowcroft, G.M.; Cameron, E.K.; Stalker, F.; Christian, M.L.; Braggins, J.E. 2005: Vascular flora of Norfolk Island: some additions and taxonomic notes. New Zealand Journal of Botany 43(2): 563–596.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Huynh, K.-L. 1993: Some new distinctive features between Freycinetia banksii Cunn. (Pandanaceae) of New Zealand and F. baueriana Endl. of Norfolk Island. Candollea 48: 501–510.
Stone, B.C. 1973: Materials for a Monograph of Freycinetia Gaudich. XIV. On the Relation between F. banksii A. Cunn. of New Zealand and F. baueriana Endl. of Norfolk Island, with Notes on the Structure of the Seeds. New Zealand Journal of Botany 11: 241–246.