Many people I met in exhibition always asking me about rattan – what is rattan ? Sometimes this question coming from my friend or people who already in touch with this kind of material everyday and for a long time. They even did not know about the rattan it self.
So do I, it take 3 years to see the physical look of the “actual rattan”. Actual means that the “rattan trees”. 3 years I work in rattan industry, touch and smell with rattan but still I did not know the actual rattan is. Since I knew it already for some years, this time I want to make a small journey about rattan. These all taken from my latest trip to my supplier in Borneo & Sumatera early this year.
You can check the meaning of rattan, definition or biological name or else in wikipedia. But this time, when you read this article, I want to highlight that these articles will be my perspective about rattan. And, it is start with a common question, What is Rattan ?
Rattan is long slender stem that have various diameters. It grow similar to bamboo but rattan have no inner hollow like bamboo. The outer cane is hard and durable while the inner side softer and sometimes porous.
There are 500 – 600 of rattan species in the world that originates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia. Some country like Papua New Guinea, Australia (on North) and Africa also have rattan. Indonesia has 85% of total population of rattan in the world.
Rattan growth in the forest and it growth every year; no harvesting season of rattan. The length are varies sometimes reach 600 feet. The rattan trees are green with green leaf. It growth along with other plants. Sometimes coiled on big trees stem and other just growth on surface. Some rattan species growth in swamp.