Calamus pseudotenuis Becc. & Hook. f. (PALMAE)
Common name
Tamil: Perumperambu.
Description: Clustering, high climbing canes; stem 5-7 m long. Leaves up to 1.6 m long, ecirrate; petioles up to 22 cm long spiny; rachis spiny; sheath yellowish green, brown tomentose, densely spiny, spines up to 3.5 cm long, yellow, intermingled with thin smaller spines, mouth of sheath with longer spines; knee sometimes present; ocrea large, ca 10 cm long; flagellum up to 3 m long; leaflets more or less equidistant, linear-lanceolate, ca 50 x 2.5 cm, apex usually bristly-penicillate, 3-veined. Male inflorescence ca 3 m long, branching to 3 orders; female inflorescence ca 3 m long, branching to 2 orders. The fruits are somewhat ovoid, measuring around 1.5 by 0.8 centimeters. They feature scales arranged in 18 rows, displaying a greenish-yellow color with dark brown edges. Inside, the endosperm exhibits a ruminate structure.
Flowering : October- February and July.
Fruiting : April – June and October – November.
Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats, usually above 750 m. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Sri Lanka.
Uses: Used in furniture industry and basket-making.
