''Calamus viminalis'', one of many ''Calamus'' species commonly referred to as rattan, is a plant of the Arecaceae, or palm, family native to:

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

in Indonesia;

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

; all parts of Thailand; Cambodia;

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...

and Central Annam in Vietnam; all parts of Laos; Myanmar; Bangladesh;

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated ...

; North-east, North-central, and South India; and probably north-west and south

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

in China. The plant grows with clustered stems, either climbing on other plants or forming thickets. The stems can reach 35m with a diameter up to 4 cm. The whitish or yellowish globose fruit, up to 1 cm in diam., are sometimes borne in pairs. In

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the eas ...

state, India, the palm flowers and fruits from November to January. It grows at village margins and in scrub, forest edge and (locally) inside evergreen forest, from 0-600m elevation. In Cambodia it occurs in semi-dense forests and at the rear of mangrove formations. As the palm is favoured by forest loss and tolerates harvesting well, it is of no conservation concern. Vernacular names include: Thai, ''wai ngamkhao'', ''wai namhang'', ''wai sambai'', ''wai mon'', ''wai som'', ''wai dong'';

Khmer Khmer(s) may refer to: Cambodia *''Srok Khmer'' (lit. "Khmer land" or "Land of the Khmer(s)"), a colloquial exonym used to refer to Cambodia by Cambodians; see * *Khmer people, the ethnic group to which the great majority of Cambodians belong ** ...

''phdau kraek'' (''phdau''=rattan), ''phdao chhvaing krek'';

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ton ...

, ''katengparua''; Alak, ''rebou''; Lao, ''wai ton'', ''wai nyair'', ''wai na'', ''wai khom'', ''wai namhang'', ''wai keethao'', ''wai nang'', ''wai tiudeet'', ''wai namleuang'';

Khamu The Khmu (; Khmu: ; lo, ຂະມຸ ; th, ขมุ ; vi, Khơ Mú; ; my, ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising elev ...

, ''blong chang'';

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

''dudh beth'' (''beth'' is common to rattans); in Tripura state, India, ''bet gota'', ''rigorusam''; in Songhason Hills,

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, ''pri'';

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

柳条省藤 ''liu tiao sheng teng''. The rattan or cane is of moderate quality, and is used in many places for handicrafts and sometimes traded. In Cambodia it is described as being used to make rough baskets, ropes and canes. Villages in Kampong Chhnang, Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri provinces in Cambodia grow this palm in plantations, and use the stems for making furnishings, it is regarded as having medium market value and conservation value. The

shoot In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the sp ...

of the germinating plant is edible, in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

they are about 1m long when harvested, and sold in bundles with the leaf sheaths in place, if the sheaths are removed the shoot must be cooked immediately, otherwise they can remain fresh for a week. The fruit is sometimes sold for food. In the Andaman Islands, the stem is not used for commercial purposes, though may be used for domestic items, it is regarded as easily breakable, but the fruit is eaten. Amongst forest-dwelling people of Tripura state, India, the sour-tasting ripe fruit is eaten with salt and chili. In the Songhason Hills of

Karbi Anglong District Karbi Anglong district is one of the 34 administrative districts of Assam in India. Diphu is the administrative headquarter of the district. The district is administered by Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council according to the Sixth Schedule of the ...

the fruit and shoots are used as food while the stems are used for construction and craft, it is suggested that the plant has potential for horticultural production.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10901207 viminalis Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Yunnan Plants described in 1799