AGRICULTURAL  BULLETIN 
OF  THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
F E D E R A T ED  M A L A STATES. 
No.  4.]  APRIL,  1903.  [VoL.  II. 
RATTANS. 
Plate  \\ 
The  Rattans  of  commerce  consist  of  the  woodv  stems  of  a va- 
riety of  climbing  palms  belonging  to  the  section  Calame^,  and  to 
the  genera  Calamus,  Doemonorops , Korthalsia  and  P/ectocomia,  to 
which  may  be  added  tlie  less  known  genera  Myrialepis,  Plectoco- 
yniopsls  and  Ceratolobiis.  They  are  unisexual  plants,  forming  tufts 
of  stems  some  of  which  attain  an  enormous  length.  The  leaves  are  al- 
ways pinnate,  with  broad  and  narrow  leaflets,  often  hairy,  and  armed 
with  recurved  hooks  on  the  back  of  the  midrib,  which  is  in  many 
cases  prolonged  into  a leafless  veryt  horny  portion,  the  flagellum  by 
which  the  plant  climbs.  In  a certain  set  of  rattans  the  flagellum  is  not 
a portion  id  a leaf,  but  an  independent  organ  rising  from  the  axil  of 
a sheath  and  apparently  an  abortive  flower  spike.  The  stem  of  the 
plant  is  covered  with  leafsheaths,  armed  strongly  with  sharp  flat- 
tened thorns. 
The  inflorescence  varies  in  form  according  to  the  genus. 
In  Calamus^  it  is  usually  long  j^endulous  and  much  branched  with 
tubular  spathe^,  sometimes  prolonged  into  a limb. 
In  Doemonorops  the  inflorescence  is  much  more  short  and  com- 
])act,  wiih  large  usually  spiny  boatshaped  bracts  quite  covering  up 
the  flowers  at  first,  and  later  faliiiig  off  altogether. 
In  these  rattans  the.  stems  go  on  flowering  for  a long  time  pro- 
ducing one  inflorescence  after  another  from  the  axils  of  the  leaves. 
In  Korthalsia  and  Plectocomia  the  inflorescence  is  terminal,  or 
rather  produced  all  at  once  from  the  top  joints  of  the  stem,  the 
whole  stem  dying  to  the  ground  when  the  fruits  have  heeii  pro- 
duced. The  Korthals'as  are  peculiar  in  having  the  leaves  trapezi- 
form  or  at  least  narrowed  at  the  b?ise  and  widest  at  the  top,  and 
usually  white  beneath,  and  some  have  a large  boatshaped  sheath 
just  above  the  leaf  stalk  (the  ocrea)  which  is  usually  perforated 
and  used  as  a nest  bv  ants,  whence  they  are  known  as  “ Rotan 
Semut.’'  Plectocomia  is  an  enormous  plant,  the  stem  of  which  is 
narrow  at  the  base  and  thickens  as  it  develops  upwards.  It  is  cer- 
tainly the  bulkiC'.t  rattan  we  have  and  attains  a vast  length,  ( limit- 
ing to  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees  and  often  by  its  great  weight  it 
pulls  off  branches  and  breaks  down  small  trees  by  its  long  flagella, 
