Caning (furniture)

Furniture or chair caning may be confused with wicker; chair caning is specifically the craft of applying rattan cane or rattan peel to a piece of furniture such as the backs or seats of chairs, whereas wicker or wicker work is a reference to the craft of weaving any number of materials such as willow or rattan reeds as well as man-made paper based cords.

[citation needed] In common use, the term cane may refer to any plant with a long, thin stem.

However, the cane used for furniture is derived from the rattan vine native to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

[1]: 7  Before export, the rattan stems are cut to uniform lengths and the bark is removed in narrow strips of 1⁄16 to 3⁄16 inch (2 to 5 mm).

It climbs to the top of canopies of the forest to reach sunlight with the help of large rugged thorns that grab hold of surrounding trees.