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| Veterinary Botanical
Medicine Association |
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Responsible Herbal Practice |
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Jasmine C. Lyon,
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QUESTIONS?
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| Established in 2002 by
Susan Wynn, DVM, RH(AHG) |
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VBMA Herbal Wiki |
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Pandanus tectorius, Amos T Fairchild,
Wikipedia
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Common Name: Hala
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Pandanus tectorius;
Hala,
Screwpine
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Family
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Pandanaceae
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Part Used
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Fruit, flowers, leaf
buds, aerial roots; leaves have non-medicinal
uses; aerial roots are infused or decocted;
seeds are decocted; pollen sprinkled on bedding;
leaf buds are decocted
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Active constituents
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Alpha-tocopherol;
carotenoids
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Actions:
Cool acrid and release
the exterior
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Anodyne; antidote;
aphrodisiac; cosmetic; depurative; diaphoretic;
laxative; sedative; sudorific;
TCM indications: 1.
Leaf buds:
clear heat, cool the blood and relieves toxins;
2. Flowers:
clear heat and disinhibits water; dispels damp
heat; stops heat with diarrhea; 3. Aerial Roots:
relieves the surface; clears heat, frees water,
and transforms dampness;
3. Fruit and seeds:
tonifies the spleen and stomach; supports a weak
spleen; strengthens the source qi; subdues
rising yang; benefits the head and cyst; reduces
phlegm; benefits and increases the blood;
relieves toxins from alcohol; stope thirst after
drinking alcohol; strengthens the mind and
spirit; releases and resolves abdominal lumps
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Indications: Common uses
Colds and flu- aerial root
UTI; fluid retention: aerial root
Red eyes: aerial root
Low energy; Fruit
Aphrodisiac: pollen
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Anemia; erysipelas; dysentery, haemorrhoids,
diabetes; conjunctivitis, macular eruptions,
visual obstructions; earache, bleeding gums,
gingivosis, headache; ascites, hepatitis, fever,
sores, foot rot, small pox, elephantiasis;
arthritis, rheumatism; spasms; coughs; measles,
gonorrhoea, syphilis, venereal diseases; urinary
tract infections; urinary stones; chest pain,
debility, leprosy. Summer heat conditions.
Used as food throughout Polynesia, but the
varieties that grow in Hawaii are waxy and not
terribly edible. Tips of ripe seeds may be eaten
raw or cooked.
Other uses: floor mats
to hats to canoe sails; leaf skin has been used
as cigarette papers; dried seeds were used as
paint brushes.
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Cautions
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LD-50-if given over 8
gr/kg
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Contraindications
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pregnancy
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Herb Drug Interactions
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None noted
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Dosage (use animal doses
where available, otherwise human doses can be
included here but specify)
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Adult Human: Aerial
root: 15-30
grams;
Fruit:30-90
grams
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Photo by
Marshman, Wikipedia |
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Notes: Indigenous
in Hawaii; lives to live in wet coastal areas.
Energetics: Sweet,
bland, cool
Aerial roots primarily a
diaphoretic and diuretic. Ripe fruits are useful for qi
deficient, low energy and blood deficiency with
irritability and insomnia
Flower
Color: Cream or whitish
Duration:
Perennial, Evergreen
Growth
Habit: Tree
Height: Up to 50
feet (15 m) tall, but usually less
Description: The plants are dioecious with male
and female flowers on separate plants. The tiny male
flowers are in dense, pendant clusters and surrounded by
large, creamy white bracts. The female flowers are in
rounded, pineapple-like flower heads. The female flowers
are followed by rounded, also pineapple-like fruit heads
composed of multiple wedge-shaped fruits. The individual
fruit segments have a green top and a yellow, orange, or
red base. Tourists and others unfamiliar with Hala may
mistake the fruit heads for pineapples, but this plant
is unrelated to pineapples. The leaves are dark green,
sword-shaped, bent, edged with small, sharp spines,
spirally arranged, and densely clustered at the branch
tips. Some varieties have variegated or smooth-edged
leaves. The plants have a slender, upright, branched
trunk with brown, ringed bark and a cone of distinctive
stilt or prop roots at the base.
Here in Hawaii,
Hala grows in the coastal lowlands, often near the edge
of the ocean. The fruit is buoyant, salt water tolerant,
and can spread to new land areas by ocean current.
This is the only
Pandanus
species found in Hawaii. The similar and related 'Ie'ie
(Freycinetia
arborea)
grows as a clinging vine instead of a tree like Hala.
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