Fish-tail lawyer cane
Calamus caryotoides
Family: Arecaceae
What it is like
A tall slender climbing palm or rattan. It can have one or many stems. It forms clumps and forms a tangled thicket. Vines can be 15 m long. The stems have needle-like spines. It has whip-like climbing structures which develop for the top of the leaf sheath opposite the stalk. These can be 1-2.5 cm long and have hooks which curve backwards. It has feather-like leaves. These are distributed along the stem at fairly wide intervals. The leaflets are wedge shaped with the end pair united to form a fish tail. The leaves are 20-70 cm long with 6-12 pairs of shiny, pale green leaflets. These are 10-20 cm long by 4-6 cm wide. They have jagged tips. The flowering stalk is long and hangs downwards. It is 1-2.5 cm long with a few short branches. Several flowering stalks are often present at the same time. Male and female flowers are on separate plants, The flowers are cream and 2-4 mm across. The fruit are cream when ripe and round. They are 8-13 mm across and covered with overlapping scales. They have a thin outer coat. This is edible. It contains a single seed. The seed is 8 mm by 6 mm.
There are 375-400 Calamus species. There are 175 species in tropical Asia.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant. It grows along the edges of drier rainforests. They do best with a warm, well-drained site. Light shade is good and the soil should be rich. They are very frost sensitive when young. In Northeast Australia they grow from sea level to 1,000 m altitude. They can grow in warm temperate frost free places. In the Cairns Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 9-12. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens.
Countries/locations it is found in
Asia, Australia (country/location of origin), Indonesia, SE Asia
How it is used for food
The fleshy layer around the seed is eaten.
Edible parts
Fruit, shoots
How it is grown
Plants are grown from seed. Seed usually grow within 6 months. Seedlings and suckers are difficult to transplant.
They are fast growing. In Australia, fruiting occurs from April to December.
Its other names
Local names
Rotan ekor ikan