screw pine

noun

: any of a genus (Pandanus of the family Pandanaceae, the screw-pine family) of tropical monocotyledonous Old World trees or shrubs with slender palmlike stems, often huge prop roots, and terminal crowns of swordlike leaves

Examples of screw pine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

From essence of rose and screw pine (known in Hindi as kewra, from the pandanus flower), to a wide range of fruit and herb extracts, including apple, pineapple, orange, coriander and vetiver (the ingredients vary slightly depending on the country of production), Rooh Afza has it all. —Charukesi Ramadurai, Bon Appétit, 14 June 2022

Pandanus is a genus of tropical evergreens that grow in Southeast and South Asia, Oceania and Africa, with leaves that tend to rise and arch in a whorl around the stem and bulbous fruit, whose polyp-like knobs evoke a pineapple’s armor — hence the English name, screw pine. —New York Times, 6 Sep. 2021

Smoked beef cheek dumplings are a house specialty, and the cocktail offerings include the pandan colada, made with brilliant-green screw pine leaves. —Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2021

Along with English ivy everywhere, the expanding repertoire of popular houseplants included schismatoglottis (shown above, right), dracaena, screw pine, grape ivy, and fiddle-leaf fig. —Tovah Martin, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Dec. 2022

Pandanus, a small tree from the screw pine genus, grows across warm coastal lowlands and islands in the Asia Pacific region. —Emily Matchar, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 July 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above