Calamus erioacanthus
Calamus (KAL-ah-muhs) erioacanthus (eh-ree-oh-ah-KAHN-tuhs) | |||||||
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Near Bau, Sarawak, Malaysia. by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb. | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Borneo, Locally common in the 1st and 2nd Divisions. Not known elsewhere. Endemic.
Description
Clustering rattan climbing to 10 m or more; stem without sheaths 7-10 mm in diam., with sheaths to 18 mm in diam., internodes about 15 cm long. Sheaths dark green, armed with scattered triangular black spines to 10 mm long with decurrent bases and long hairy margins, or spines more crowded and of varying size, low ridges sometimes present between the spines; knee well developed; ocrea 5-8 cm, membranous at first, becoming fibrous and net-like, conspicuous in young sheaths. Vestigial flagellum to 10 cm, usually less. Leaf to 1.5 m including the cirrus to 75 cm; petiole very short in mature stems, 2-6 cm long; leaflets about 12 on each side of the rachis, irregularly arranged in groups of 2 - 4, shiny dark green, broad lanceolate, the longest 25 - 35 x 4.5-5.5 cm, ± unarmed, transverse veinlets conspicuous. Inflorescences inconspicuous, appearing dead even at anthesis, with up to 7 partial inflorescences; base of prophyll sparsely to very densely armed with hairy-margined spines; primary and secondary bracts covered in brown scales, irregularly tattering; partial inflorescences to 15 cm, often less, partly obscured by the tattering bracts; male and female rachillae very short, usually crowded. Mature fruit ± oblate, 15 x 17 mm, briefly beaked, covered in about 21 vertical rows of pale straw-coloured scales, irregularly blotched and tinged with reddish-brown. Seed about 10 mm in diam.; endosperm deeply ruminate. Seedling leaf not known. (J. Dransfield, The Rattans of Sarawak. 1992)/Palmweb. Editing by Edric.
C. erioacanthus has quite a wide altitudinal range from about 50 - 800 m above sea level. It occurs in lowland dipterocarp forest and on ridge tops with submontane elements. It is quite variable, particularly in the density of the spines; however, it can be distinguished from other species in the group having cirri and vestigial flagella by the well developed ocrea and the broad lanceolate grouped leaflets. (J. Dransfield, The Rattans of Sarawak. 1992)/Palmweb.
Culture
Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a
Comments and Curiosities
Etymology: From the Latim, literally; Woolly spine.
Uses: The cane appears to be of good quality.
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, The Rattans of Sarawak. 1992
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.