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Rotan Kerai - Calamus diepenhorstii Miq. - Arecaceae
Synonym:
Other names:
Rotan kerai, Rotan kerai hitam [1], Rotan putih (Sabah) [2], Bitter rattan (English)[3]
General information:
Clustering rattan climbing to 20 m; lowland and hill forests to 700 m [1, 2]
Distinguish botanical characteristics:
Leaf – curved ecirrate, leaf sheaths armed with long, black, flat and triangulars, petiole and rachis sparsely armed with black spines, leaflets – long with thickened margin, spiny flagellum presents [3]
Stem – slender, rarely > 15 mm and > 25 mm in diameter with and without leaf sheath, respectively [2], covers by leaf sheaths – almost always very spiny [3]
Inflorescenes – flagelliform [3]
Fruit – obovoid-rounded, orange, shortly beaked, scaly [3]
Uses:
The stems (canes) – very common and also among the most commercially important rattan species, canes very hard but flexible, good quality cane for basketry and mats, cordage, fish traps, animal traps, used as binding materials for household utensils, wood construction [2,34]
Major/bioactive phytochemicals:
None known
References:
[1] https://www.mybis.gov.my/sp/10191
[2] https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Calamus_diepenhorstii_(PROSEA)
[3] Quattrocchi, U. CRC World Dictionary of Palms: Common names, Scientific names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology Vol. 2 (2017)
[4] Purba et al., International Journal of Biological Research, 4(2) (2016), 181-189.
[5] Ave, Economic Botany 42(1) (1988), 105-119.
SK & NMH, 2022
