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Calamus (palm)

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Calamus
Calamus gibbsianus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Calamus
L.[1]
Type species
Calamus rotang
L.[2]
Species

More than 400 – see text

Synonyms[1]
11 Synonyms
  • Calospatha Becc.
  • Ceratolobus Blume ex Schult. & Schult.f.
  • Cornera Furtado
  • Daemonorops Blume
  • Palmijuncus Rumph. ex Kuntze
  • Pogonotium J.Dransf.
  • Retispatha J.Dransf.
  • Rotang Adans.
  • Rotanga Boehm.
  • Schizospatha Furtado
  • Zalaccella Becc.

Calamus is a genus of flowering plants in the palm family Arecaceae, and is one of several genera known as rattan palms. There are an estimated 400 species in this genus, all native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Description

[edit]

Species in this genus are mostly climbers with long, slender, flexible stems, but some are erect shrubs and some have no apparent stem (acalescent). They may be clustering or single-stemmed. The leaves are pinnate with an even number of leaflets, in the climbers they may be variously barbed or clothed in spines (including the leaf sheath). Climbers also produce armed tendrils – either from the leaf sheath, in which case it is known as a 'flagella', or as an extension of the midrib and known as a 'cirrus'.[3][4][5] Climbing species will often reach the forest canopy, and one plant was recorded as being 185 m (607 ft) long.[6] In some species, such as Calamus rudentum, the inflorescence also has a flagellum.[7]

All species are dioecious, meaning that male and female inflorescences are produced on separate plants. They both arise from the leaf axils and are pendant and branched, and may variously have barbs, spines or cirri. The fruit rarely contain more than one globose seed, the thin sarcotesta is covered by an external layer made up of rows of small overlapping scales similar in appearance to a snakeskin.[3][4][5]

Taxonomy

[edit]

Calamus is the sole genus in the subtribe Calaminae, tribe Calameae, subfamily Calamoideae. It includes over 400 species after the remaining genera of Calaminae (Daemonorops, Calospatha, Ceratolobus, Pogonotium and Retispatha) were subsumed within it in 2015,[8] in preparation for a wide review of the genus. It is known to be non-monophyletic, and a reliable description of the genus is not possible due to a lack of uneqivocal synapomorphies.[8][9]

Distribution

[edit]

The genus is distributed from Africa through southeast Asia and Australia to islands of the western Pacific. The bulk of the species occur in Asia, with one species in Africa (C. deerratus)[9]: 219  and eight in Australia.[3]

Uses

[edit]

Various species are used to produce the rattan cane for making furniture. Many species were also used in tribal cultures – Indigenous Australians used various parts for shelters, baskets, axe handles, fish traps and fishing lines, as well as eating the fruit and young shoots. Some species may have medicinal properties.[5][10][11]

Species

[edit]

As of May 2025, Plants of the World Online recognises 416 species:[1]

References

[edit]
Wikispecies has information related to Calamus.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calamus.
  1. ^ a b c "Calamus L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Calamus L." International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Dowe, J.L.; Jones, D.L. (2022). "Calamus". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Calamus". Flora of China. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Calamus L." Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  6. ^ Dransfield, John (1978). "11: Growth forms of rain forest palms". In Tomlinson, P.B.; Zimmerman, Martin (eds.). Tropical Trees as Living Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-521-21686-9. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Alt URL
  7. ^ Principes volume 40 number 1 (January 1996) pp. 9 plus table 1
  8. ^ a b Baker, William J. (2015). "A revised delimitation of the rattan genus Calamus (Arecaceae)". Phytotaxa. 197 (2): 139–152. Bibcode:2015Phytx.197..139B. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.197.2.7.
  9. ^ a b Baker, William J.; Hedderson, Terry A.; Dransfield, John (2000). "Molecular Phylogenetics of Calamus (Palmae) and Related Rattan Genera Based on 5S nrDNA Spacer Sequence Data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 14 (2): 218–231. Bibcode:2000MolPE..14..218B. doi:10.1006/mpev.1999.0697. PMID 10679156.
  10. ^ Roberts, John; Fisher, Colin (CJ); Gibson, Roy (1995). A Guide to Traditional Aboriginal Rainforest Plant Use, by the Kuku Yalanji of the Mossman Gorge. Mossman, Queensland: Bamanga Bubu Ngadimumku Inc. p. 34. ISBN 0-646-22991-5.
  11. ^ Jones, D.L. (1984). Palms in Australia. Chatswood, NSW: Reed Books. pp. 169–170. ISBN 0-7301-0007-3.
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