Daemonorops oblonga
(Reinw. ex Blume) Blume
President and Fellows of Harvard College
What to Eat
Edible parts: Shoots
The growing tips (shoots) are cooked and eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in lowland forests and grows up to 600 m above sea level.
Asia, Indonesia, SE Asia,
How to Identify
A cane or rattan. It is a climbing plant. It has a cluster of woody stems. These can be 12 m long. They climb in the surrounding trees. They attach by prickles on the leaves and branches. Male and female flowers are on separate plants.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Other Uses
The stems are used for making light furniture and rattan mats. The entire cane is used for binding building poles. The cane is used locally for making the framework of baskets, brush handles and coarse weaving. The long and slender stems of rattan are put to various uses according to their size, length, flexibility, elasticity and toughness. The most slender canes are employed entire for binding purposes, and in making chairs, blinds, mats, wicker or basketwork, fishing implements, etc. Twisted together, they make very strong cables. The largest and more resistent canes are used entire as cables, the framework of wicker chairs etc. Usually, however, for many purposes the stems are split throughout their length into 2 - 4 or more strips from which the inner soft brittle and spongy portion is removed by means of a knife or same other instrument, so as to leave the external portion, which is hard, tough, flexible, elastic and has its outer surface very clean and smooth as if it had been varnished. Strips vary in width according to the use to which they are to be put. Those for delicate work, such as the network of furniture, small bags, hats, etc, are from 1 - 3mm wide; those employed as lashings in native housebuilding or in fastening the removable head of the Malay axe to its handle are from 5-6 mm wide. Collecting and preparing the stems is very simple. The stem is cut near the ground and detached from the trees by taking a strong hold of its base and thus pulling down the entire plant with its leaves. The most recent growth at the top of the plant is removed and then, handling it from the upper end, the stem is forcibly drawn in the opposite direction between two pieces of wood, thus removing the spiny coverings. It is then cut into lengths of about 5 metres, each piece is bent into two equal parts and the stems are fastened into bundles ready for market. The most valued stems are not thicker than a man's little finger and have a fine polished straw-yellow glassy surface. The leaves are used for thatching huts.
Names & Synonyms
References (4)
- Fern, K., 2012, Tropical Species Database http://theferns.info/tropical/
- Harada, K. et al, Diversity, Conservation and Local Knowledge of Rattans and Sugar Palm in Gunung Haliman National Park. http://www.palms.org/
- Ochse, J. J. et al, 1931, Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies. Asher reprint. p 570
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (As Calamus oblongus)
