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
Martelli published this scientific name in Webbia.[1] It is the name Bowker subsequently associated with the Chamorro plant he spelled “akaom.”[2]
1939 — Bowker’s account
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.[2]
1970 — Stone’s treatment under Pandanus fragrans
Benjamin C. Stone listed P. guamensis as a synonym under P. fragrans forma savannarum, a form he had published in 1967.[3]
1987 — Treatment under Pandanus tectorius
Fosberg, Sachet, and Oliver placed P. guamensis and P. fragrans, including its forms, within P. tectorius.[4] Kew’s Plants of the World Online follows the 1987 checklist in treating P. guamensis as a synonym of P. tectorius.[1]
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
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Pandanus guamensis Martelli. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bowker, H. F. (1939). “Pandanaceae or Screwpines of Guam.” The Guam Recorder, November, pp. 324–325, 344–345.
- ↑ Stone, B. C. (1970). The Flora of Guam. Micronesica 6, p. 148.
- ↑ Fosberg, F. R.; Sachet, M.-H.; and Oliver, R. (1987). A Geographical Checklist of the Micronesian Monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20, pp. 23–25.
