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Dubai Ratan Trader (4866028), 08.11.2008

Rattan (from the Malay rotan), is the name for the roughly six hundred species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia. Most rattans are distinct from other palms in having slender stems 2–5 cm diameter with long internodes between the leaves; their consequent growth habit also differs, not being trees but vine-like, scrambling through and over other vegetation. They are also superficially similar to bamboo, but distinct in that the stems ("malacca") are solid, rather than hollow, and also in their need for some sort of support; while bamboo can grow on its own, rattan cannot. Some genera (e.g. Metroxylon, Pigafetta, Raphia) are however more like typical palms, with stouter, erect trunks. Many rattans are also spiny, the spines acting as hooks to aid climbing over other plants, and also to deter herbivores. Rattans have been known to grow up to hundreds of metres long. Most (70%) of the world's rattan population exist in Indonesia, distributed among Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumbawa islands. The rest of the world's supply comes from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Bangladesh.