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Calamus rotang
Also called Rattan Cane, Common Rattan
Calamus rotang is a climbing rattan palm from South Asia whose long, flexible stems are used for Malacca cane furniture and wickerwork. It is grown in wet tropical forest and needs a humid, warm climate with room to scramble over other plants.
Calamus rotang, also known as common rattan, is a plant species native to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma). It is one of the scandent (climbing) rattan palms used to make Malacca cane furniture, baskets, walking-sticks, umbrellas, tables and general wickerwork, and is found in Southwest Asia. The basal section of the plant grows vertically for 10 metres or so, after which the slender, tough stem of a few centimetres in diameter, grows horizontally for 200 metres or more. It is extremely flexible and uniform in thickness, and frequently has sheaths and petioles armed with backward-facing spines which enable it to scramble over other plants. It has pinnate, alternate leaves, 60–80 cm long, armed with two rows of spines on the upper face.
The plants are dioecious, and flowers are clustered in attractive inflorescences, enclosed by spiny spathes.
Wait-a-while · Dragon's Blood · Tynriew · Calamus javensis · Rattan · Calamus rudentum · Calamus periacanthus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calamus rotang 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.
