Calamus oxleyanus
Calamus (KAL-ah-muhs) oxleyanus (ohks-leh-AHN-uhs) | |||||||
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Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Pattaya, Thailand. Photo by Dr. Scott Zona. | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Borneo, Malaya, Sumatara, and Thailand.
Description
Culture
Comments and Curiosities
There are two sub-species:
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1.) Calamus oxleyanus var. oxleyanus; Restricted to kerangas forest on ridges in Ulu Ingei at about 190-200 m above sea level. Elsewhere in Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. Solitary (very rarely clustering) rattan climbing to 10 m; stem without sheaths to 15 mm in diam., with sheaths to 30 mm in diam., internodes 15 cm long. Sheaths bright green, rather densely armed with black, yellow-based flattened spines to 50 × 7 mm, upward-pointing, horizontal or reflexed; knee poorly developed, usually obscured by spines; ocrea tattering, inconspicuous. Leaf cirrate, arching, to 2 m or more including the petiole to 30 cm and cirrus to 60 cm; petiole armed with long black, yellowish-based spines; leaflets to about 50 on each side of the rachis, arranged in groups of 2-5 (rarely more), arcuate, dark shiny green except at the base where pale yellowish, 20-30 × 2-3 cm, ± unarmed. Inflorescences strongly curved, to 1.2 m, with about 7 partial inflorescences, the longest to 40 cm; male rachillae to 3 cm; female rachillae to 4 cm bearing rather distant flowers. Ripe fruit rounded, about 12 mm in diam., with conspicuous beak to 1.5 mm, and covered in 12-13 vertical rows of yellowish scales with brown margins. Seed hemispherical, about 9 mm in diam., with superficial pitting; endosperm very sparsely and shallowly ruminate. Seedling leaf not known. (J. Dransfield, The Rattans of Brunei Darussalam. 1997)/Palmweb. Editing by edric. It is remarkable that this familiar Peninsular Malaysian rattan should be so rare in Borneo. Bornean populations differ from those in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra in having relatively broader and shorter leaflets; otherwise there is very little difference. (J. Dransfield, The Rattans of Brunei Darussalam. 1997)/Palmweb. Etymology: Specific epithet in honor of Thomas Oxley, physician in the employ of the East India Company in Penang and Singapore. Uses: Of limited use because of the short stem length. 2.) Calamus oxleyanus var. montanus ; Malaya. Differs from the typical form in having broader leaflets, ovoid rather than rounded fruit, and oblong rather than rounded seed. This is a robust mountain rattan, found on G. Padang in Trengganu. There is only one collection and the status of this variety may have to be reviewed if more material becomes available. (J. Dransfield, A Manual of the rattans of the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Forest Records 29.. 1979)/Palmweb. |
External Links
References
Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.
Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.
Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.
Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).
J. Dransfield, A Manual of the rattans of the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Forest Records 29.. 1979
J. Dransfield, The Rattans of Brunei Darussalam. 1997
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.