CALAMUS 



Basket-work 



CANES AND RATTANS 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 23. 



North India 

 Bengal. 



Eastern 

 Peninsula. 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 21. 



East Bengal 



Coromandel Coast, delights in a rich moist soil, where there are bushes and trees 

 for it to climb on. It seems probable that Roxburgh may not have sufficiently 

 separated this from the two following species as cane-yielding plants, c. Kotain/ 

 proper is not met with in Bengal. The slender stems are the common rattans 

 of Central and Southern India ; they are used for basket- and wicker-work, 

 chairs, mats, blinds, etc., but are not strong though easily worked. [Cf Taylor, 

 Topog. Stat. Dacca, 1840, 52 ; Brandis, 2nd. For., 1887, xiii., 55 ; Thiselton- 

 Dyer, Ind. For., I.e. 185.] 



C. tenuls, Roxb., Fl. Ind., iii., 780 ; Griff., Palms Brit. Ind., 1850, 57, 

 t. 193, A, B, c ; Prain, Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., ii., 347. This is the bet, bent, 

 a chachi-(sanchi) bet, bandhari bet, kring, jalla bet, jali, etc. A very long scandent 

 plant met within the Sub-Himalayan tracts from Dehra Dun eastwards to Assam, 

 Sylhet, Chittagong and Pegu. This is the common cane of Northern India 

 and Bengal. It is largely used for basket-work, mats, screens, chairs, etc., etc. 

 The fruit is eaten in times of scarcity. [Of. Innes, Jungle Prod., etc., 1898, 13.] 



C. viminalis, WHId. ; Palmajuncus viminalis, Rumph. a Javan plant ; 

 var. fasciculatus, Becc. (C. fasciculate, Roxb., Fl. Ind., iii., 779). The 

 bara-bet, pepa beti, amla vetasamu, kyeinga, etc., and according to Roxburgh 

 it is the umba-vetus of Sanskrit. It is a stout scrambling and climbing species 

 of Lower Bengal, Orissa, the Karnatak, Chittagong, Burma, the Andaman Islands, 

 Penang and Cochin-China. Cane thin but strong, makes excellent walking- 

 sticks and is the chief rattan of the Eastern Peninsula. 



Daemonorops Jenklnsianus, Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm., ii., 327 ; Prain, Rec. 

 Bot. Surv. Ind., ii., 347. This is the gola-bet, gallah, etc. A stout scandent 

 rattan found in Eastern Bengal, Darjeeling Terai, Assam, the Khasia hills, the 

 Sundribans and Chittagong. The canes are long but are said to be rather soft, 

 though extensively used for basket-work. 



D. Kurzianus, Becc., I.e. 219. A stout species of the tropical forests of 

 the Andamans, giving useful canes and a kind of dragon's-blood gum. 



Plectocomia himalayana, Griff. ; Gale. Journ. Nat. Hist., v., 100. Fl. Br. 

 Ind., vi., 478. The runul, ranol, etc. A gregarious climber found in the Sikkim 

 Himalaya. The thin stems are employed for tying fences and in common basket- 

 work. 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 98-102. 

 Dragon's- 

 blood. 



Edible Fruits. 



Canes and Rattans: Basket- and Wicker-work. Few 



plants are more useful to the inhabitants of moist tropical regions than 

 the canes and rattans. The long scandent stems constitute the canes of 

 commerce. 



The stems when freshly cut contain a large quantity of liquid, 

 which may be collected by blowing through short lengths, and from 

 this, by evaporation, a red resin may be obtained. One of the best- 

 known qualities of that resin is sometimes called " East Indian Dragon's- 

 blood." This is, however, for the most part prepared from the fruits of 

 several species of Calamus, met with in Eastern Sumatra, South Borneo 

 and Penang. The gum exudes naturally from between the scales of the 

 fruit, but inferior qualities are obtained by boiling the fruits or by tapping 

 the stems. The only Indian species hitherto reported as affording this 

 resin is T>. Kurzianus a species already briefly indicated. The false 

 Dragon's-blood, met with in Indian commerce, is imported into Bombay 

 from Sumatra, Penang, etc., in large cakes or is found compressed into 

 bamboo tubes. The true Dragon's-blood is, however, procured from 

 Socotra and is derived by tapping the stems of several species of 

 Dracaena not Calamus. [Cf. Yearbook of Pharmacy, 1884, 234-6 ; 1897, 

 180 ; Pharm. Journ., 1893, xxiv., 47, 108 ; Pharmacog. Ind., iii., 532-5 ; 

 Kew Bull, 1906, 197-9.] 



The fruit in the species of Calamus is produced in great clusters, and 

 the inner succulent layer is often an edible refreshing bitter-sweet pulp. The 

 roots and young sprouts are eaten as vegetables and somewhat resemble 

 asparagus. But the species of the above-mentioned genera owe their chief 



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