Daemonorops robusta (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Daemonorops robusta Warb.

Protologue: Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 12: 101, plate 39 (1911).

Family: Palmae

Chromosome number: 2n= unknown

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: rotan susu (northern Sulawesi), batang merah (central Sulawesi), rotan bulu rusa (western Seram, Ambon). The local name "rotan susu"in Sulawesi is also used for Calamus ornatus Blume var. celebicus Becc.

Origin and geographic distribution

D. robusta is only found in Indonesia, in Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Halmahera, Seram, Buru, Ambon).

Uses

The cane is used locally for making the framework of furniture of moderate quality.

Production and international trade

The cane is traded locally only but no production statistics are available.

Properties

D. robusta is a mediumdiameter cane, second grade to Calamus zollingeri Becc.

Botany

Clustering, robust, dioecious rattan, up to 20 m tall. Stem without leafsheaths 23 mm in diameter, with sheaths 40 mm in diameter; internodes to 23 cm long. Leaf cirrate, c. 5.5 m long, including petiole, rachis and cirrus; leafsheath yellow to pale green, armed densely with whitishbrown to black slender and often soft spines and with black indumentum, spines to 7 cm long, sometimes flat, triangular to 3.2 cm long; knee conspicuous; petiole 0.4 m long, with long black spines all around, spines up to 4 cm long; rachis 4 m and cirrus 1.2 m long, bearing grapnellike groups of reflexed spines; leaflets c. 60 on each side of the rachis, stiff, the lower ones as long as the upper leaflets, linear, 50 cm×3 cm, bearing long bristles. Male inflorescence similar to female, pendulous, to 50 cm long, longspiny. Ripe fruit somewhat globose, 17 mm long and 20 mm in diameter, with 1415 vertical rows of white scales, bright brown when dried. Seed one per fruit, subglobose, 15 mm×18 mm.

It is suspected that D. beguinii Burret may be conspecific (and hence synonymous) with D. robusta . For differences between D. robusta and Calamus zollingeri , see notes on the latter.

Ecology

D. robusta is found in lowland forest up to 100 m altitude, usually near streams.

Agronomy

D. robusta is propagated by seed. There are no plantations of this rattan. The stem is cut at the base and the plant is pulled out manually by 23 men while an assistant climbs the nearest tree and cuts off leaves which are entangled in the canopy to facilitate the removal of the stem, very often leaving behind a portion of the upper part of the stem that cannot be extricated. After removing old leafsheaths and debris from the stem, the cane is cut into 4 m lengths. The collector usually carries a bundle of 1012 pieces on his shoulder for a journey that can last 4 hours to 2 days (or even a week by river) to the nearest market place. The cane is treated in the same way as C. manan Miq.

Genetic resources and breeding

Some seeds have been collected from several areas in Sulawesi and planted in the nursery in Bogor.

Prospects

Since D. robusta clusters and produces mediumdiameter cane, it is a promising rattan for cultivation. Further studies on improvement of cane quality are desirable.

Literature

• Beccari, O., 1911. Asiatic palmsLepidocaryae. Part 2. The species of Daemonorops. Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta 12: 101.

Authors

J.P. Mogea