Freycinetia

Freycinetia
Freycinetia arborea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Pandanales
Family:	Pandanaceae
Genus:	Freycinetia Gaudich.[1]
Species
See List of Freycinetia species
Synonyms[1]
Victoriperrea Hombr. & Jacquinot ex Decne. Jezabel Banks ex Salisb.

Freycinetia is one of the five extant genera in the flowering plant family Pandanaceae. As of November 2024^[update], the genus comprises approximately 300 species. The type species is Freycinetia arborea.^[1][2][3]

Species of Freycinetia are woody lianas which climb by means of adventitious roots. The stem of the largest of them may reach up to 7 cm (2.8 in) diameter, but most are much smaller. Leaves are simple, long linear to ovate, sessile; they are arranged in three spirals and venation is parallel. Leaf margins are often toothed or with small spines; the underside of the midrib may also be toothed. Inflorescences are terminal on normal leafy shoots or specialised lateral shoots, and are branched (rarely unbranched) spadices. All species are dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The fruit is a berry, usually grouped into cylindrical or globose 'heads', often red in colour.^[2][4][3]

The species are distributed through the tropics and subtropics of Southeast Asia and Oceania. They are found in Sri Lanka, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Marianas, the Caroline Islands, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii, the Society Islands, the Australian states of the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, Norfolk Island, and New Zealand, as well as other smaller island groups throughout the Pacific.^[1]

They have been found growing in tropical forests, coastal forests, humid mountain forests and associated biomes, from sea level to mountains cloud forests.^{[citation needed]}

The genus was created by French botanist Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1924 to accommodate plants he collected during an exploratory voyage of the Pacific between 1817 and 1820. He named it for Admiral Louis de Freycinet, the commander of the ship he sailed on.^{[5][6]: 199} Initially, Gaudichaud included three species, namely F. aborea, F. radicans, and F. scandens.^[6]

For a complete list of species, see List of Freycinetia species