Scientific Name: Calamus muelleri

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  • Pronunciation:
    CAL-ah-moos MOOL-er-eye
  • Common Name:
    Lawyer Vine, Wait-a-while
  • Derivation:
    Calamus: Gr. calamos - a reed (from Arabic kalom - a reed) muelleri: honours Baron Ferdinand von Mueller 1825-1896, famour German botanist who collected and named 2000 new species in Australia.
  • Type:
    Vine , Climber
  • Family:
    ARACACEAE
  • Flowers:
    White
  • Fruit:
    Orange brown scaly
  • Vegetation Type:
    Sub-tropical rainforest
  • Species List:
    Kennilworth Fig Tree Walk, Craft, Bush food, Bush medicine, Heritage Park, NNP Palm Grove, Wooroi Day Use Area Tracks, Cooroibah 26.4.09, Wooroi Palm Grove, Cooloothin Corner, Kin Kin Scrub, Dandaloo, Stratford Park, Upper Yandina Creek,
Cultural Notes

Older canes used for many weaving, tying and construction purposes.||Barbs used as fish hooks.||Bush Food: scant edible fruits.||Bush medicine: Young shoots chewed and swallowed for dysentery.||

Identification Notes

Leafless stem, flagellum, has backward-facing hooks for climbing. Many chestnut spines on growing tip. Leaves compound with with upright prickles on midrib, leaf edge and stalk.

Landscaping Notes

Reputed to have indoor pot plant potential.||Successfully propagated by Barung Landcare||