The characteristics of rattan in peninsular Malaysia / Nofidarus Mohd Razi

Rattan is a one characteristic feature in Malaysia forest. Rattan is spiny climbing palms belonging to a Palmea. The entire commercial supply of rattan in Peninsular Malaysia presently comes from the forest and it is the most important minor forest product. It belongs to a large subfamily of the palms known as the Calamoideae. Out of these 600 species found throughout the world, about 104 species can be found in the forest of Peninsular Malaysia. However, only about 20 species are widely used commercially. Among these are rotan manau (Calamus manna), rotan manau tikus (C. tumidus), rotan semambu (C. scipionum), rotan irit (C. trachcoleus) and rotan sega (C. caesius ). But, only C. trachcoleus and C.caesius are commonly used for commercial. Rattans enter world commerce as rattan stick, cane, core and split cane as a raw material for the construction of cane furniture. Rattan is characterized by being light, strong and durable it also can be manufactured into a variety of product such as basket, fish traps, ropes and others.