the indian cane, a plant of the palm family. it furnishes the common rattan. see rattan, and dragon's blood.-a species of acorus (a. calamus), commonly called calamus, or sweet flag. the root has a pungent, aromatic taste, and is used in medicine as a stomachic; the leaves have an aromatic odor, and were formerly used instead of rushes to strew on floors.-the horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill.