Calamus periacanthus

Calamus periacanthus is a species of flowering plant, a dioecious rattan in the palm family, that is native to Southeast Asia.

Name
Local vernacular names include rotan jagung and wi empunok.

Description
The palms branch at the base to form several stems, which climb up to 10 m in height. The green stems are covered with yellow spines up to 8 cm long. The whiplike tendrils at the end of the rachis are covered with reflexed spines which act as grappling hooks to climb through the forest foliage. Each palm bears either male or female inflorescences, with panicles up to 1 m long on peduncles up to 50 cm long. The fruits are round, with the epicarp covered with pale brown scales, containing a single round seed in an edible, translucent, sweet-sour sarcotesta.

Distribution and habitat
The species occurs in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, where it is found in lowland and hill dipterocarp forest up to an elevation of 800 m.