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Calamus australis
Also called Hairy Mary
Wait-a-while (Calamus australis) is a climbing rattan-type palm from the rainforests of north-east Queensland that uses hooked fronds to scramble up other trees. It is grown as a rainforest or shade-garden curiosity, and the key is giving it a strong support and room to climb.
Calamus australis, commonly known as wait-a-while, hairy mary or lawyer cane, is a plant in the palm family Arecaceae which is endemic to the rainforests of north east Queensland, Australia. Like other species in the genus Calamus, this is a climbing plant with a very long and flexible stem. It uses sharp strong hooks on the fronds and tendrils to attach itself to other vegetation, such as taller established trees, thus gaining support that enables it to grow higher towards the canopy. This species is very similar to C. radicalis, with which it coexists, but is smaller in almost all respects. Sharp hooks on the plant can snag the clothing of walkers, giving rise to the name "wait-a-while".
This is the most widespread of the eight Australian species of Calamus. It is endemic to tropical areas of Queensland, from the tip of Cape York Peninsula south to near Rockhampton on the Tropic of Capricorn, and from sea level to about 1,600 m (5,250 ft). It grows in gallery forest and well developed rainforest.
Indigenous Australians had many uses for this plant and its sister species. The young shoots were eaten, along with the fruits. The long flexible stem was used to make shelters, axe handles, fish traps, snares, and waist straps for climbing trees, and the thorny tendrils were used to catch fish.
Dragon's Blood · Tynriew · Calamus javensis · Rattan · Rattan · Calamus rudentum · Calamus periacanthus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calamus australis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
