Rattan (Calamus rotang)

Family: Arecaceae | Edibility: Edible (2/5)

Rattan Cane or Calamus rotang is a dioecious rattan palm that grows up to 10 m tall and 200 m wide. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar but can now be found throughout Southeast Asia. The leaves are pinnate, alternate and with spines on the upper face. The flowers are clustered and enclosed by spiny spathes. Young shoots are cooked and eaten as vegetables.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Shoots

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Edible portion: Shoots, Fruit. Young shoots - cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Fruit - raw. When ripe the fruit is roundish, as large as a hazelnut and is covered with small, shining scales, laid like shingles, one upon the other. — Edible portion: Shoots, Fruit.; Young shoots - cooked and eaten as a vegetable.; When ripe the fruit is roundish, as large as a hazelnut and is covered with small, shining scales, laid like shingles, one upon the other.; The subacid pulp which surrounds the kernel is sucked out and eaten as a means of quenching the thirst.

Habitat & North American Range

Common in coastal fresh water swamp forests, frequent along fresh water streams of lower hill valleys. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8)