Discovering Palms: A Journey from Mall to Rattan
(or: How I Accidentally Recognized a Cousin of SCA Sword Material).
Hey, all! This morning I was walking laps around Oakview Mall when I came upon one of those big indoor planter beds. In it I found a plant with tall, slender green canes with feathery fronds standing together near a jewelry store.
Today, for some reason, my brain thought was: “…Is that rattan?” Which is a very SCA-flavored thing to think about a plant in a mall.
As you may know, we in the SCA love rattan. We love it in the same way other people love cast iron pans. Or a perfectly sharp pair of sewing shears. Rattan is what our fighters use for swords. It’s strong, and it flexes. When it fails, it frays politely instead of shattering dramatically. If it didn’t that would make fighter practic exciting in all the wrong ways.
But here’s the fun bit: Rattan is a palm. So when my brain said: “Hey! Rattan!” it was actually making a correct botanical connection, loudly… in the middle of a mall.
🌿 Meet the Palm Family — A Surprisingly Large Clan
With some research I learned palms come in many shapes and personalities, and the ones at Oakview aren’t rattan. They are what I like to think of as its gentle, indoor cousins. They could be a Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) or something close in the family.
They grow in clumps — not as one tall trunk — and their stems look like miniature green canes. Friendly. Decorative. Cooperative. The kind that would bring a casserole to our potluck Revel and remember everyone’s SCA name.
Nerd that I am I tell you what each clan member is known for:
Rattan (Calamus): It’s the athletic cousin who climbs trees for SCA swords, cane furniture and overall durability.
Bamboo/Parlor/Cat Palms (Chamaedorea): Indoor ambiance specialist Mall planter charm and emotional support greenery.
Coconut Palm: Dramatic resort model the beach and postcards.
Date Palm: The matriarch with receipts feeding civilizations since ancient times.
It is a large family with range.
🌱Enter the Wandering Botanist; my Friend in the Plant World
If you haven’t come across her blog yet, The Wandering Botanist is an SCA Laurel friend of mine. She was my peer when she lived in Calontir. Now, she lives in Colorado and writes the most delightfully human stories about plants. These stories cover where plants came from. They explore how people have used them. The stories also highlight the funny ways plants show up in our lives. Her posts always feel like the beginning of a conversation over tea.
If you enjoy this kind of gentle plant-and-history rambling, she’s a treasure: https://wanderingbotanist.blog
🌺 And Speaking of Places to Meet Plants in Real Life…
If you’re local to Omaha, Lauritzen Gardens is our beautiful botanical garden. It is a wonderful place to visit when you want to see plant relatives in person. You don’t have to squint at them in a mall planter between Claire’s and Auntie Anne’s pretzels.
They often have warm-climate species on display. And walking through their conservatory feels like traveling without going through airport security.
Meeting a plant where it lives is grounding. Even if you first noticed it while trying to remember where you parked at Oakview.
So yes — I saw a palm at the mall and thought of rattan. And honestly?
I think that’s a perfectly reasonable way to move through the world.
It’s nice when our interests wave hello to each other like that. Just like I finally made the connection between my Tai Chi exercise and the SCA. (More to come on that shortly.)
