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Screwpine

Common name	Local names	Botanical name	Available region in India
Screwpine	Thaza (Malayalam)	Pandanus	Largely in Kerala

Screw pine belongs to Pandanaceae family. It is a Paleotropic family of 800 trees and shrubs. They are identified by sword shaped leaves, prickly margins, spiral arrangement and aerial (prop) roots, with a coarse foliage texture. The word Pandanus is derived from Indonesian name of tree ‘Pandan’, commonly known as screw pine. They have vicious throngs on the spines and sides of the leaves. Spliced Pandanus leaves are every flexible and pliable. Screwpine bear a strong resemblance to Palm leaf.

Screw pine is a large plant. It grows best in bright light but needs shade from bright summer sun. The soil should be kept evenly moist in summers but drier in winters to prevent root rot. The soil should be dry before watering and then thoroughly saturated.

Screw pine has an exceptional capacity for the protection of the banks of water bodies from erosion. Its fibrous root system hold the find alluvial soil intact. Apart from resisting soil erosion, the presence of this plant enhances the water holding capacity of the soil. Furthermore screw pine give great refuge for a number of organisms especially fish. Many fishes consider screw pine areas as ideal breeding sites. Therefore this plant has great value in area where a good portion of the population are traditional inland fishermen. Due to all these importance screw pine is ecologically called as a key stone species.

Screw pine leaves are used for making a varied product line like bags, mats, hats, boxes, etc. The commercial exploitation is done in parts of Kerala.

In Kerala this screwpine is divided into Male & Female, locally male screwpine known as Aanu Thazha and female locally known as Pennu Thazha in Malayalam.

Artisan weaving mat

The Process

• The screw pine leaves are cut with a knife katti and the thorns from the sides and mid rib is spliced apart cutting the leaves into two. The spliced leaves (raw) is then rolled outwards to prevent it from curling, giving and angular reel of 1-2 cms. approx. thickness.

• Once dried it is properly straightened and rolled the other way (inwards) into a circular reel. The leaf strands in the reels is further split into 2 or 3 by hand as per the required width as well as the width of the raw material.

• If the leaf is bleached or dyed it curls up resulting to an additional process of uncurling and straightening the leaves. This is a tedious job done by bare fingers.

• Weaving the mat : It is a one up one down plain weave structure by hands, is commonly adopted. Twill weave structure has also been introduced. to finish the edges the open ends of the mat is tucked in, in the reverse direction. On an average it takes 1 day to weave a 6ft x 3ft mat. If the strands are finer the time increasing accordingly.

• Braiding the handles: A bunch of strands are braided around to cover waste strands

with one up one down structure to form a handle and then pulled to give a circular section.

• Making the Containers : From the mats patterns are cut out as per given dimensions.

these cut outs are stitched together with a button hole stitch using screwpine yarn all over the edges. Reinforcement is given within, by cardboard sheets which is sandwiched by cloth or screwpine mat itself form the other side.

Banana is mainly cultivated for its seedless fruit, which can be eaten raw as well as ripe. The flowers of the plant are also edible. The young plant along with the leaves have an auspicious value in the Indian culture. Banana leaf has a special utility in the southern part of India, where it is used as a plate for eating.

Some of the Screwpine product pictures: