Stone (1982) stated that it was difficult to distinguish Pandanus sumatranus from Pandanus forbesii, due to the incomplete and imperfect nature of the type material of P. forbesii. Stone did not separate the two species but believed further collections could demonstrate the species are the same, or perhaps with some infraspecific distinctness.

This little known species is endemic to Sumatra, where it has been recorded from the active volcano Bukit Kaba in Bengkulu Province and from Sibide District near Lake Toba in North Sumatra. Though these localities are separated by a distance of almost 760 km, both occur within the extensive Barisan Mountain Range. A third record, the type collection, is also known but was recorded without locality. Given the lack of information on the distribution of this species, it is difficult to give an accurate estimate for the extent of occurrence or area of occupancy, though the minimum values are expected to be at least 540 km² and 8 km² respectively. It is likely that the species occurs elsewhere within the Barisan Mountains. This species has not been recorded since 1973 and therefore its current status in the wild is highly uncertain. Its population size is unknown, though it was recorded as being dominant and very common on Bukit Kaba, despite recent eruptions having taken place. There is inferred to be a decline in the extent, area and quality of this species' montane forest habitat within the Barisan Mountains, based on satellite imagery and tree cover loss data. Though the majority of deforestation on Sumatra has taken place in lowland areas, as these resources become exhausted, deforestation is beginning to encroach on montane areas. Bukit Kaba is under formal protection within a Nature Park and the locality in Sibide District appears to fall within the current forest moratorium in Indonesia, meaning the forests here are under temporary protection, though their long term future is uncertain. At present, neither of these localities are considered to represent locations. Though the two localities are geographically isolated, there is insufficient data to determine if any gene flow is taking place between the two subpopulations and it seems likely that there may be further, undiscovered subpopulations. There is also no evidence of extreme fluctuations and therefore the species does not meet all of the subcriteria for an assessment under criterion B. Further data on the population size of this species, as well as its generation length, are needed to assess it under criterion A, C or D. Further, given the most recent collection was made 50 years ago and the oldest 90 years ago, there is no certainty that the species is still extant at either locality. Additionally, there is some taxonomic uncertainty with this species and though it is currently considered to be distinct, it has been suggested that further collections of it will show it to have little to no distinction with Pandanus sumatranus, a Sumatran endemic recently assessed as Least Concern. Given the uncertainty surrounding the current status of this species' distribution, population, and also in its taxonomy, it is assessed as Data Deficient.

This species is endemic to Sumatra in Indonesia. It is known only from the type collection, recorded at an unknown locality, and two further confirmed records made from Sibide District, near Lake Toba in North Sumatra and another from the active volcano, Bukit Kaba in Bengkulu. Only one of these records was recorded with elevation, made at 1,600 m asl. These two known localities are separated by a distance of nearly 760 km but are both within the Barisan mountain range which extends along the western edge of Sumatra.

The population size of this species and its current trend are unknown. This species has not been recorded from the wild since 1973 and is known from only three collections. This could be a result of the species being rare or a result of under-collection. However, the collection made in 1973 from Bukit Kaba described it as being dominant and very common in this area.

This species is presumed to be a tree or shrub. The only recorded habitat information is from the active volcano Bukit Kaba, where it was described as growing in open places on fresh lava and old lava (Dransfield #3660). Both known sites for this species are situated within the Sumatran Montane Rain forests ecoregion (Dinerstein et al. 2017) so it is assumed to grow in montane rain forests.

The forests of Bukit Kaba are protected by the Bukit Kaba Nature Park, though the volcano is active and future eruptions could potentially impact this species. However, it was recorded in 1973 as dominant and very common on old and fresh lava flows, suggesting it is resilient to this type of disturbance. The second locality in North Sumatra, though not precisely known, appears very likely to be covered by Indonesia's forest moratorium (Ministry of Environment and Forestry Indonesia 2020) and therefore is currently protected from deforestation (though deforestation in the surrounding lowland areas has already been extensive). The moratorium is reviewed on a six monthly basis, however, and therefore the long term protection of this area is not ensured. Deforestation on Sumatra has dramatically increased within the past few decades. In 1950, primary forest covered 71% of Sumatra but by 2010 this was reduced to 30% (Margono et al. 2012). Forest loss has been most severe in the lowland areas and much of the remaining, intact forest occurs in montane areas. Much of this is within the Barisan Mountain range in which both of the known localities are situated. Given there is a very large distance between the two known localities, it is very plausible that the species will be present elsewhere within the Barisan Mountain range. The likelihood of this species having experienced any direct threats seems unlikely at present, but as lowland forest resources become increasingly exhausted, it is expected that deforestation will begin to take place increasingly in montane areas. This is already the case in some parts of the range according to tree cover loss data from Global Forest Watch (2023).

There are no recorded uses for this species.

There are no ex situ collections of this species held by botanic gardens (BGCI 2023). The species has been recorded from Bukit Kaba Nature Park (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2023) and the locality in North Sumatra seems likely to currently be within Indonesia's Forest Moratorium so is temporarily protected from deforestation (Ministry of Environment and Forestry Indonesia 2020).