Thorny

While trekking into the forest, we met an elderly Bidayuh couple walking in the reverse direction. The man, who posed gallantly for the camera, was carrying some freshly collected rattan. His hands were bruised and scarred, for the sharp curved thorns of the rattan (or Rotan in Malay), are a bane to collectors and jungle trekkers alike. Getting oneself out of a tangle of backward pointing spines that lashed and latched onto the skin and fabric reqired some co-ordination which may not come naturally after hours of trekking.

Rattan is a group of weak scrambling palms which rely on hooks on elongated leaf tips to cling onto branches and tree trunks. There are about 13 genuses of up to a hundred plus species in all. The stems became long and flexible, since they no longer bear the weight, and the internode elongate at great speed. In fact, the longest stem of a climbing plant was recorded for a Calamus manan, reported by Forestry Department of Malaysa as 556 feet ; Corner had reported that there was an even longer plant, but it was torn to bits by an elephant before it could be measured. Apparently, disdain for this plant is quite universal.
This is from the peeled bark of a fallen branch...vicious isn't it ? Even in modern times, in this part of the world, we can still purchase fine smoothened rattan cane for less than a dollar to punish kids who had erred. A little whip on the open palm brings instantaneous submission, very effective ! Kids from the West really had it good....

The fast growing and flexible nature of the stem has made it a popular material in natives crafts and baskets. More recently, the West has also discovered its usefullness in lightweight hall and patio furniture which I believe is more ecologically sustainable than hardwood, since they grow like weeds.

If only we can breed a plant without the thorns ....

Ref E.J.HF Corner, The Natural History of Palms