Licuala is a genus of
palms commonly found in
tropical rainforests of southern
China,
Southeast Asia, the
Himalayas,
New Guinea and the western
Pacific Ocean islands. They are fan palms, with the leaves mostly circular in outline, sometimes undivided but more usually divided into wedge-shaped segments.
Licuala acutifida is the source of cane for the walking stick nicknamed the
Penang-lawyer by colonials, probably from the Malay phrase
pinang liyar for a wild
areca, although the term may also refer to the use of these canes as deadly
knobkerries to assassinate litigious enemies.