Calamus rotang, also known as common rattan, is a plant species native to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma).
It is one of the scandent (climbing) rattan palms used to make Malacca cane furniture, baskets, walking-sticks, umbrellas, tables and general wickerwork, and is found in Southwest Asia.
It is extremely flexible and uniform in thickness, and frequently has sheaths and petioles armed with backward-facing spines which enable it to scramble over other plants.
The edible fruits are top-shaped, covered in shiny, reddish-brown imbricate scales, and exude an astringent red resin known medicinally and commercially as "dragon's blood".
[3] The canes are sought-after and expensive, but have to a large extent been replaced by sticks made from plants, such as bamboos, rushes and osier willows.