Login
Login

Climbing palm

{{Over-quotation|date=January 2023}}

{{Short description|Palms that grows as vines}}

Climbing palms are genera in the family Arecaceae that grow as lianas. "Initially erect, the slender stems seek out trees for support and climb up into the forest canopy by means of recurved hooks and spines growing on the stem, leaves and inflorescences. In all climbing palms the leaves are pinnate and grow along the stem instead of forming a dense crown. The stems of climbing palms, more often referred to as canes, are solid in contrast to bamboo poles which are almost always hollow."(c) FAO 1995. Tropical Palms. Introduction. NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS 10 {{ISBN|92-5-104213-6}} http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0451E/X0451e03.htm{{Failed verification|date=January 2023}} "The majority of climbing palms are also clumping palms [and sympodial], sending out new shoots from [below ground as suckers]." "About 600 species of palms in [16] genera have a climbing growth habit. Most noteworthy is the genus Calamus--the largest genus in the palm family with approximately 350 described species--source of nearly all commercial rattan."

The habit of "climbing palm" is one of the terms used for referring to the diversity of habits of palm stems, the rest are "arborescent palms" or tree palms, "shrub palms" and "acaulescent palms", as defined in Dransfield (1978{{sfn|Dransfield|1978}} cited in Kubitzki ed. 1998,Arecaceae in: Kubitzki (ed 1998) in: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants see also Uhl & Dransfield 1987 Genera Palmarum).

Gallery

File:Thatiyan Cuural (Malayalam- തടിയന്‍ ചൂരല്‍) (5661614812).jpg | Calamus thwaitesii which is a species of climbing palm climbing a tree

Diversity

Most climbing palms are the ones called rattan. Rattans are closely related and all belong to the family Calamoideae, most of them in the tribe Calameae. The genera: Calamus, principally, also Korthalsia, Plectocomia, Plectocomiopsis, Myrialepis, Laccosperma (syn. Ancistrophyllum), Eremospatha and Oncocalamus.Terry C.H. Sunderland and John Dransfield. Species Profiles. Ratans. http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y2783e/y2783e05.htm All rattans belong to the Old World.

In the New World there are 2 genera with climbing representatives, Chamaedorea (subfamily Ceroxyloxideae, tribe Hyophorbeae) and Desmoncus (subfamily Arecoideae, tribe Cocoseae), the last one is utilized and commercialized much in the same way as rattans.

Dypsis scandens (subfamily Arecoideae, tribe Areceae) is a climbing palm in Madagascar.

See also

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite web|last1=TPL|author-link=The Plant List |title=The Plant List Version 1.1|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/|publisher =Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=7 July 2015|date=2013}}
  • {{cite book|editor1-last=Tomlinson|editor1-first=P. B.|editor2-last=Zimmerman|editor2-first=Martin|title=Tropical Trees as Living Systems (Proceedings of the fourth Cabot Symposium held at Harvard Forest, Petersham Massachusetts on April 26-30, 1976)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxT1M8-bu3IC|date=1978|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-14247-2}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Dransfield|first1=John|author-link=John Dransfield|title=Growth forms of rain forest palms|date=10 June 2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxT1M8-bu3IC&pg=PA247|pages=247–268|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521142472|ref={{harvid|Dransfield|1978}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|Zimmerman|1978}}{{refend}}

Category:Arecaceae

Category:Plants by habit