The Bemban

This is a beautiful white flower you often see in swamps undisturbed by development. It leads you to a wonder plant which is a necessity of Iban families. However today the bemban has also become part of local horticulture as the plant is sold in nurseries for landscaping. The bemban thus has made an inroad into modern urban life!!

It has been around for ages and has served local Sarawakians well....



Bemban (Mohtra Reed) grows in bunches around lake water and open lands and it is found naturally in the Limbang valley where many Iban ladies can collect freely this plant material for mat and basket making.

The leaf is cylindrical and wide depicting tiny strips of intertwined veins. Its scientific name is Donax grandis from the Marantaceae family.

The flowers emerge in bunches of pairs, white in colour, with secondary petals. Bemban has small round fruits, yellow in colour, each containing 1- 3 seeds.

This lady from Kuching makes bemban handbags for sale.

A winnowing tray ( chepang) made from bemban

Bemban mats which are very cooling - an ideal mat for hot nights.

Pretty and intricate "weave" from bemban.

The bemban is a local Sarawak reed and is often considered the poorer cousin of the more valueable rattan. The Chinese call it Water Bamboo and the mats made from it are called Water Bamboo Mats - highly valued for babies to sleep on.

According to Heidi Munan "the standard Iban mat is made of bemban, a white-flowering reed of the arrowroot family (Donax spp) that grows in swampy places. The village women tend the plants, and allocate appropriate harvesting rights to the mat-makers. Suitable lengths are cut, then the shiny outer skin is stripped off; this is the working material."

It is not an easy task to harvest the bemban because certain adat must be kept. " Unlike rattan, bemban is harvested by the women themselves. Bemban, like most mat-making materials, must be harvested during the new moon. There appears to be a scientific basis for this ’superstition’ – the plants contain less sap at this time, so they will dry better, and be less susceptible to fungus and insect attack when they are stored later. The bark strips are carefully trimmed to equal width; a well made mat is of a tight, even texture. Craftworkers distinguish between the ‘bemban ai’, which is generally used for making mats, and the somewhat more rigid ‘bemban batu’ which can also be used to make small baskets, and the characteristic patterned sun hat called ‘tangoi lelambak’. (Munan)

Pretty leaves make it a welcome plant in urban homes.....

The branch is long, segmental and shiny like that of bamboo but it branches out in mulitiplication.

It is also known for its benefits in alternative medicine.The roots are known to contain substance that cools our body. The roots are boiled and later drank to help reduce the heat in our body.

The sap from the leaves is also known to be an effective eye drop that helps rejuvenate the eyes.

I wonder what will be the real future of this ancient reed......would it be on the endangered list?