Calamus salicifolius

Calamus (KAL-ah-muhs) salicifolius (sah-lihs-ih-foh-LEE-uhs)
Cambodia.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Calamus (KAL-ah-muhs) Species: salicifolius (sah-lihs-ih-foh-LEE-uhs)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Clustering Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Lpeak

Habitat and Distribution

Indochinese endemic. Vietnam (Cochinchina) and Cambodia. The species is a non-forest species, climbing on

Cambodia.

itself if nothing else is present, thriving in grasslands, scrub, roadside verges, rice field bunds, periurban wastelands, typically in floodplain areas that have seasonal shallow flooding (although it is also in grasslands that flood quite deeply in the middle Tonle Sap floodplain). In Cambodia, it is confined to rice fields and severely degraded bush land of lowland areas.

Description

The material we have examined does not support the recognition of two diagnosable varieties. Even the type of var. leiophyllus bears one or two black spines on the surface of some of its leaflets and other specimens show a continuum of increasing spininess. The inflorescences can look superficially similar to those of C. hypoleucus since the primary bracts of C. salicifolius often form an inflated limb cloaking about a third of the partial inflorescence, but those of C. hypoleucus exceed the partial inflorescence, which is also much more densely and slenderly branched. (J. Dransfield, A Synopsis of the Rattans (Arecaceae: Calamoideae) of Laos and Neighbouring Parts of Indochina. 2002)/Palmweb. editing by edric.

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: The species appears to be commonly collected within its limited range, but even its preferred habitat remains unclear. It is used for handicrafts, such as baskets, matting and rope, bringing a good source of income for local communities. Shoots are also collected and eaten as a vegetable. In Cambodia a cane of 4-5 m costs 100-150 Riel (2008). No export record of this species exists.

Conservation: The species appears to be commonly collected within its limited range, but even its preferred habitat remains unclear. The species is endemic to the lower part of the lower Mekong, from the Tonle Sap basin into southern Viet Nam. In Cambodia it is widespread on the central plains, especially around the Tonle Sap Great Lake and in southeastern parts of the country (ICUN Redlist 2008).

Communities in Siem Reap and the Tonle Sap region are using a rattan species found only in Cambodia (Calamus salicifolius, known in Khmer as Lpeak) to produce high-quality baskets and handicrafts that are exported to Thailand and other international markets. "This unique species is only found in Cambodia and is therefore critical to our country's biodiversity and the future of our rattan industry.