View source for Akå'on

'''Akå’on''' is a type of ''Pandanus'' recognized by Chamorros among several distinct pandanus trees. It is valued for its sweet fruit keys, which are chewed and eaten out of hand, similarly to sugarcane.

The name comes from '''åka’''', meaning “to bite,” and the suffix '''-on''', expressing capability. Akå’on thus means “biteable,” or capable of being bitten, chewed, or gnawed.

== Cultural Use ==
Akå’on is cultivated for food. It is propagated vegetatively using crown cuttings planted in the ground. These develop into plants genetically identical to the mother tree, allowing people to maintain a favored tree through successive plantings.

The sweet fruit keys are eaten out of hand. This use is similar to that of edible pandanus known throughout Micronesia, such as '''bōb''' in the Marshall Islands.

== Botanical Information ==
Akå’on belongs to the genus ''Pandanus'', family '''Pandanaceae'''. Its identity within Chamorro plant knowledge should be distinguished from the changing scientific classifications applied to plants associated with its name.

=== History of scientific classification ===
'''1914 — ''Pandanus guamensis'' Martelli'''<br />
Martelli published this scientific name in ''Webbia''.<ref name="kew">Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/671006-1 ''Pandanus guamensis'' Martelli]. ''Plants of the World Online''. Accessed 22 October 2026.</ref> It is the name Bowker subsequently associated with the Chamorro plant he spelled “akaom.”<ref name="bowker">Bowker, H. F. (1939). “Pandanaceae or Screwpines of Guam.” ''The Guam Recorder'', November, pp. 324–325, 344–345.</ref>

'''1939 — Bowker’s account'''<br />
H. F. Bowker distinguished “akaom” from cafo, pahong, paingot, and aggag. He described ovoid fruit heads and leaves lacking the tensile strength and whitish waxy coating of aggag. His account records observations and interpretations from that period.<ref name="bowker" />

'''1970 — Stone’s treatment under ''Pandanus fragrans'''''<br />
Benjamin C. Stone listed ''P. guamensis'' as a synonym under '''''P. fragrans'' forma ''savannarum''''', a form he had published in 1967.<ref name="stone">Stone, B. C. (1970). [https://micronesica.org/sites/default/files/floraguam.stone1970_0.pdf ''The Flora of Guam'']. ''Micronesica'' 6, p. 148.</ref>

'''1987 — Treatment under ''Pandanus tectorius'''''<br />
Fosberg, Sachet, and Oliver placed ''P. guamensis'' and ''P. fragrans'', including its forms, within '''''P. tectorius'''''.<ref name="fosberg">Fosberg, F. R.; Sachet, M.-H.; and Oliver, R. (1987). [https://www.micronesica.org/sites/default/files/ageographicalchecklist_fosbergev_2-_1-2o.pdf A Geographical Checklist of the Micronesian Monocotyledonae]. ''Micronesica'' 20, pp. 23–25.</ref> Kew’s Plants of the World Online follows the 1987 checklist in treating ''P. guamensis'' as a synonym of ''P. tectorius''.<ref name="kew" />

These treatments document changes in botanical classification. They do not, by themselves, describe or eliminate the distinctions Chamorros recognize among akå’on and other pandanus plants.

== Gallery ==
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== References ==
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[[Category:Plants]]
[[Category:Pandanales]]
[[Category:Pandanaceae]]
[[Category:Pandanus]]