Candle rattan
Calamus javensis

Family: Arecaceae

What it is like

A palm or rattan. It is a small, clustering climber. The stems can be 10 m long and 1 cm across. It climbs by 1 m long flagelli which are on the ends of 60 cm long leaves. The leaflets are dark green and 12 cm long. They taper towards the tip. The lowest pair of leaflets usually point backwards. The leaflets at the end are fused.

There are 375-400 Calamus species. There are 175 species in tropical Asia.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pacific, Philippines, SE Asia, Singapore, Thailand

How it is used for food

CAUTION: The plant contains alkaloids in the seed, leaf, stem and root. The young shoots are eaten cooked.

Edible parts

Palm heart, cabbage, shoots

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed and suckers.

Its other names

Local names

Howe chaching, Howe omas, Rotan beras, Rotan ledas, Rotan lilin, Rotan manchik, Rotan opot, Rotan pueh, Rotan serimit, Rotan sindol, Rotan sini

Synonyms

Calamus filiformis Becc.;