ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Rattan Cane and Rotang Cane. Rattan ropes are used for dragging heavy weights and for tethering wild animals. Cordage and cables are made by twisting together two or more canes. Canes also are used for building boats, suspension bridges, and as a substitute for whale-bone. Mature rattans can be cut at the base and divided into sections 4 to 5 m long. Thereafter, canes can be cut about every 4 years, from suckers. Rattan cane is important in India and elsewhere for the manufacture of cane-bottom chairs. Many species of the large genus are used in various parts of the world for similar purposes. Rattan plants are attacked by the fungi Catacaumella calamicola, Doratomyces tenuis, and Sphaerodothis coimbatorica.
