Daemonorops jenkinsiana

Daemonorops (deh-mohn-OHR-ohps) jenkinsiana (jehn-kihns'-ee-ahn-ah)
"Note colour variation." Xishuangbanna Botanic Garden, China. Photo by Dr. T. Evans, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Daemonorops (deh-mohn-OHR-ohps) Species: jenkinsiana (jehn-kihns'-ee-ahn-ah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
'Major Jenkins' Rattan Palm, Golak bet, Cheka bet, Dudhia bet, Dangri bet, Golla bet.

Habitat and Distribution

Daemonorops jenkinsiana is found in Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China Southeast,

H.P. Leu Gardens, Orlando, FL. Photo by Leu Gardens Botanist, Eric S.

East Himalaya, Hainan, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, INDIA (West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya), BANGLADESH, BHUTAN. In the eastern Himalaya's, it is common in mixed forests up to 1000 m. (S.K. Basu. 1992)/Palmweb.

Description

High climbing rattan palm; stem with lealshcath 3 - 4 cm in diameter; intemodes 15-20 cm long, longitudinally striatc. Leaves cirrate; leafblade excluding cirrus to 3 m long; leafsheath pale yellow to yellowish green, covered with brown scurf and armed with thin flattened, deep brown to blackish needle-like spines in series or scattered; petiole 15 - 20 cm long, 5 cm broad at widest part; scurfy outside, flat to slightly convex above, armed below with strong digitate claws and straight spines at margins; leaflets equidistant, alternate to suboppos-ite; largest leaflets little above the base, 40 - 50 cm long or in some vigorous specimens 50 - 70 cm long, 2 - 4 cm broad at widest part; ultimate leaflets rudimentary. Inflorescence sub-axillary or inserted above the mouth of their sheaths, not very broadly fusiform after opening; peduncle 3 - 6 cm long; outer bract tapering into a long beak, reddish to reddish brown in colour. Flower branches densely scurfy at base. Male flowers oblong in bud, 5 x 2.5 mm; calyx cupular, hairy at tips; corolla with 3-obIanceolate petals; stamens 6, anthers subulate, connate and thickened at base. Rachillae in female inflorescence upto 8 cm long, sinuous; female flowers 6 - 7 in number on each side; each 5 - 5.5 mm long; calyx cupular, truncate; corolla distinctly veined, with deeply divided lanceolate petals; ovary ovoid to globose, stigmas 3, pappillose inside. Fruit globose, 1.8 cm in diameter; fruit scales in 18 longitudinal series, yellowish brown in colour with distinct darker marginal lines; seed globose, about 10mm in diameter, minutely pitted; pits filled with dark subresinous substances; endosperm ruminate. (S.K. Basu. 1992)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Stems clustered, climbing or often forming thickets, to 25 m, to 6 cm in diam. Leaf sheaths yellowish green with gray, brown, or reddish black hairs, with scattered or rows of black, flattened, triangular spines to 4 cm, mixed with some needlelike spines; ocreas obscure; knees conspicuous; rachis to 3 m with 55-100 linear or lanceolate pinnae per side, these regularly arranged; middle pinnae 30-70 cm, 1.5-3.8 cm wide at mid-point, adaxial veins bristly, margins with smaller bristles; cirri to 2 m. Inflorescences to 0.8 m, erect; inflorescence bracts persistent, swollen, splitting lengthwise to reveal rachillae; male inflorescences branched to 4 orders, female to 2 orders. Fruits yellowish brown, globose to ellipsoid, to 2 × 2 cm, with grooved scales. Lowland rain forests, often persisting in disturbed areas; below 1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam]. (Flora of China)

Culture

Warm, sheltered, and moist. Experimental cultivation exists in north Bengal. Cultivated in the Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah and in Forest Research Institute, Chittagong, Bangladesh. (S.K. Basu. 1992)/Palmweb.

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: This cane is mainly used for making rough baskets, chair frames etc. Tribal people use it for tying fences and for making cane bridges, and the leaves are used for thatching, also for food (the young shoots are edible).

A beautiful climbing Rattan with long, spreading, finely pinnate leaves and very stout, 4.5 cm (1 and 3/4 in.) diameter canes covered in short spines. Originating in NE-India and Bangladesh in montane forests up to 750 m (2500 ft), it is suitable for warm temperate as well as tropical areas. (RPS.com)