View source for Plectocomia assamica

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{{Palmbox
|image=pa2827649.jpg
|image_caption=Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey"
|genus=Plectocomia <br>(plehk-toh-cohm-EE-ah)
|species=<br>assamica (ahs-ahm-EE-kah)
|subspecies=
|cultivar=
|synonyms=
|continent=asia
|habit=Solitary
|leaf_type=Pinnate
|height=
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|sun_exposure=
|watering=
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|common_names=
}}
==Habitat and Distribution==
INDIA (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh). Endemic. A component of the moist [[File:pa2626743.jpg|thumb|left|427px|Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Plectocomia assamica, has an enormous cirrus which extends out over 2 to 3 meters. This massive, solitary rattan has one of the longest cirri of any rattan. It will rip a large hole in your shirt if it snags you while you're moving through the forest. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey"]]hill forests, up to 2000 m. 
==Description==
A high climbing rattan; stem clustering, with leafsheath about 3 cm in diameter. Leaves cirrate; leaflets up to 60 cm long, 6 - 6.5 cm broad at middle, whitish and scurfy below, non-filamentous at apices; petiole with stout marginal spines and smaller seriate spines on the dorsal side. Male inflorescence not seen. Flower branches in female inflorescence about 1 m long, thickly covered with rust-coloured tomentum; bracts on the flower branches distichous, cuneatc, oblong with triangular tips, 6 - 7 x 2.5 - 3 cm. Female flowers 3 - 7 in number in each bract, shortly pedicellate, bractcolatc; bractcoles 4-5 mm long. Fruits globose, slightly conically beaked, densely villous outside, about 2.5 cm in diameter; seed globose, 1.8 cm in diameter; fruiting perianth flat, not channeled at middle. (J. Dransfield, Rattans (canes) in India. A Mono-graphic Revision. 1992)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

This species is not well represented in the Indian herbaria. Due to absence of recent collections its present population in the forests is unknown. (J. Dransfield, Rattans (canes) in India. A Mono-graphic Revision. 1992)/Palmweb.
==Culture==
Not in cultivation.
==Comments and Curiosities==
Uses: Not used for furniture making. The tribal people of the forests, use long canes for making hanging bridges, over mountain streams and rivulets.

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File:pa2873241.jpg|Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Gung Aung and his elephant, Aung Bu, drag rattan out of the forest in northern Myanmar. Plectocomia assamica, an elusive, monocarpic, large-cane rattan that had never before been collected with flowers and fruits. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey" 
File:pa2626743.jpg|Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Plectocomia assamica, has an enormous cirrus which extends out over 2 to 3 meters. This massive, solitary rattan has one of the longest cirri of any rattan. It will rip a large hole in your shirt if it snags you while you're moving through the forest. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey" 
File:Plectocomia+collector.jpg|Young Kachin man holding the fruits of Plectocomia assamica Griff. - which is a pretty rare sight (see Shooting Plectocomia). When I look at this image, I remember all that was involved to collect the specimen, but I am also struck as much by the collector as the colleciton. This young man was quiet, with an easy smile, and  a very hard worker in the field. He's the one in the longyi (same shirt) dragging the rattan out to the road at 1:16 in this clip. Wonder what he has been doing for the past 8 years? Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey"
File:pa28276582.jpg|Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey"
File:pa2827649.jpg|Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. Photo by Dr. Charles M. Peters & Dr. Andrew J. Henderson - "entries from a journal I kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey"


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==External Links==
*[http://eunops.org/content/glossary-palm-terms Glossary of Palm Terms]
*[http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pronunciation.html MODERN BOTANICAL LATIN]
*[http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/Pronunciation.htm "Just To Be Clear"]
*[http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/pdfs/myanmar/HKVRattanSurvey.pdf Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey]
*[http://thusihaveseen.squarespace.com/myanmar-2005/ Photos from a journal kept during the Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey]
==References==
Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric. 

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to [http://palmweb.org/?q=node/2 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).

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[[Category:PLECTOCOMIA|assamica]]