Arecaceae
Calamus

Calamus lobbianus Becc.

First published in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 462 (1893)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Malesia. It is a perennial or subshrub and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

General Description
Solitary stemless or very short-stemmed, moderate rattan. Stem without sheaths c. 20 mm diam., with sheaths to 30 mm diam., internodes to c. 20 mm only. Sheaths dull green, densely armed with slender, long pale green spines varying in length from 5-50 mm, often up ward-pointing, the tips black; knee absent', ocrea absent. Flagellum absent. Petiole to 1m long, armed laterally with pale yellowish-green horizontal spines to 30 mm, rarely more, and much smaller scattered spines; whole leaf ecirrate, to 2 m; leaflets about 20 on each side of the rachis, regularly arranged but rather distant, to 40 x 3 cm, dark green on the upper surface, densely chalky -white beneath, apical leaflets very briefly joined. Inflorescences much shorter than the leaves, rarely more than 40 cm long, zig-zag, with 1-3 partial inflorescences, these appearing to terminate the axis, the true axis appearing as a branch, the tip of the inflorescence enclosed in an empty bract; partial inflorescences composed of very crowded congested branches bearing large flowers (c. 10 mm long). Mature fruit top-shaped or ovoid, conspicuously beaked, c. 3 x 2 cm, covered in 13 - 16 vertical rows of black, highly polished, ungrooved scales; sarcotesta thick, sweet and tasty; endosperm ruminate. Seedling leaf not known (Fig. 61).
Distribution
Rather local in 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions; also in Peninsular Malaysia.
Vernacular
wi tedong (Ib.), wae savitpedun (Pen.)
[PW]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
The cane is too short to be of value for anything other than walking-sticks; the fruits make good eating.
[PW]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0