**5.5 Rattans and bamboo**

Rattans are classified into the family of Arecaceae or Palmae and the subfamily of Calamoideae. In Kuala Keniam forests, Abdul Hamid and Suratman [10] found thirteen species of rattans with the three most dominant species are *Daemonorops didymorphylla* (Rotan jernang), *Calamus caesius* (Rotan sega) and *C. luridus* (Rotan kerai). Bamboo belongs to the *Gramineae* family and the Bambusoideae subfamily. It is considered to be one of the most fast-growing plants on earth [11]. Certain species of bamboo can grow at the rate of 900mm per day. Asari and Suratman [12] found five bamboo species grow in Kuala Keniam forests. These are *Schizostachyum grande* (Buluh semeliang), *S. latifolium* (Buluh nipis), *S. brachycladum* (Buluh lemang), *Bambusa vulgaris* (Buluh aur) and *Gigantochloa scortechinii* (Buluh semantan).
