Calamus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of the palm family Arecaceae

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

. These are among several genera known as rattan

Rattan

Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...

 palms. There are some 325 species in this genus, all with a palaeotropical

Palaeotropical

In biology, palaeotropical refers to geographical occurrence. For a distribution to be palaeotropical a taxon must occur in tropical regions on both continents in the Old World, i.e. in Africa and Asia....

 distribution. They are mostly leaf-climbers with slender, reedy stems. To aid scrambling some species have evolved hooks on the underside of the midrib, or more commonly by modified pinnae in the form of stout, backward-pointing spines. These stems may grow to lengths of 200 metres.

Calamus australis is known as the hairy mary.

Diversity

Species include:

• Calamus adspersus
• Calamus australis
  Calamus australis
  Calamus australis, commonly known as lawyer cane, wait-a-while, or hairy mary, is a climbing palm with numerous hooks along its leaf sheath, along its leaves, and along "whip-like" flagella stretching out to 3 m long....
  
  Mart.
• Calamus caryotoides
  Calamus caryotoides
  Calamus caryotoides , more commonly known as Fishtail Lawyer Cane is a North-East Queensland tropical forest climbing palm with very thin flexible trunks; no crownshaft; small spikes; dark green, glossy, fish-tail shaped leaves reaching up to 15 m high ; and very thin hooked flagellaIt tends to...
  
  Mart.
• Calamus compsostachys
  Calamus compsostachys
  Calamus compsostachys is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in China.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Calamus egregius
  Calamus egregius
  Calamus egregius is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in China.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Calamus gibbsianus
  Calamus gibbsianus
  Calamus gibbsianus is a species of Rattan palm in the genus Calamus endemic to the island of Borneo....
  
  
• Calamus hollrungii Becc.
• Calamus moti F.M.Bailey
• Calamus muelleri H.Wendl.
• Calamus obovoideus
  Calamus obovoideus
  Calamus obovoideus is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in China.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
  
  
• Calamus radicalis H.Wendl. & Drude
• Calamus rotang
  Calamus rotang
  Calamus rotang L., rotang or Rattan Palm is one of the scandent palms used for Malacca cane and rattan in the making of furniture, baskets, walking-sticks, umbrellas, tables and general wickerwork, and is found in Southwest Asia...
  
  
• Calamus suaveolens W.J.Baker & J. Dransf.
• Calamus tenuis
• Calamus wailong
  Calamus wailong
  Calamus wailong is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in China.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
  
  
• Calamus warburgii K.Schum.
• Calamus zeylanicus