Screw Pine

(Pandanus tectorius)

When we went to Calicoan in Eastern Samar, the shoreline was littered by these trees that had these odd-looking fruits that to me at least, looked like a collusion of multiple nipples.  So I took many pictures of them, some green, the ripe ones red, and seeing such a strange fruit, I decided it’s perfect as the new header for my blog.  Problem was, people started asking what its name was, among other questions.  I had ZERO idea about the fruit.  I made up some names just in case, like “pine-nipple” and “fruitong”, but decided to be mature about it and asked around.  So thanks to friends on Twitter and Facebook, many were quick to point me to various websites describing the fruit.

It’s called a Screw Pine or Hala or Tourist Pineapple.  It’s a seaside plant found in Pacific tropical islands.  You can find it as far as Australia, Hawaii, even California and Florida.  It thrives in salt water, seaside conditions, so no wonder we saw it everywhere.  And yes, it’s edible raw or cooked.  Had I known, I would’ve requested to taste one, since there were so many red ones, a lot just falling to the ground, breaking up in many segments.  Apparently, one “nipple” is one segment.

Wala lang, since you’ll see it every time you visit this blog, you might as well know what it is.  Again, thanks to everyone who contributed to the search for the identity of this strange fruit.

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