Bambusa balcooa

Thai name: ไผ่บง (phai bong).

Distribution: THAILAND (North): only recorded from Mae Hong Son Province, possibly introduced (Kew Herbarium [#1333]), not known if found naturalized or cultivated elsewhere in Thailand. — INDIA (East and North-East), native. — BANGLADESH, native. — NEPAL, native. — Cultivated in many countries of South and South-East Asia and elsewhere. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: map 10 [#1342].

Culm size: Height 12–22 (25) m, diameter 8–15 cm.

Descriptions:

(1) "A tall caespitose bamboo. Culms 12-20 m high and 8-15 cm in diameter, grayish green, thick-walled, the diameter of the cavity about one-third of that of the culm; nodes thickened with a whitish ring above, hairy below; internodes 20-40 cm long; branches from the lower nodes leafless and hard, mostly spreading, sometimes thorn-like; young shoots blackish-green, green with yellow, brown or orange tinged culm-sheath, clothed sparsely with dark brown hairs: Culm-sheaths green when young, deciduous, tapering above and rounded at tip, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface with densely appressed dark brown hairs, margin ciliate; lower ones much shorter and broader than upper ones; blade 6-8 cm long, 5-7 cm broad, triangular, acute to acuminate, adaxial surface with dark brown pubescence, margin ciliate; ligule 5-8 mm high, denticulate, membranous; auricles absent or very small, ciliate. Leaves 15-30 cm long, 2.5-5 cm broad, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous above, pale and puberulous beneath, margins rough, apex pointed, sub cordate, or rounded at base with a short petiole. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 37 [#1062].

(2) "Densely tufted clum forming bamboo. Culms 15-25 m high, 10-11 cm in diameter, dark green, becoming greyish with age; nodes raised, hairy below the nodal line, having rootlets up to 3-5 m length of culm; internodes 20-22 cm long, thick walled, semi-solid; bud ovate. Culm-sheaths deciduous, lower ones broadly and upper ones elongately triangular, longer than internode, brownish, somewhat leathery, striate; sheath proper 20-30 cm long and 20-18 cm broad, lower appressed brown-black hairy, upper ones nearly glabrous on outer surface; imperfect blade persistent, erect, shorter in lower culm-sheath, longer or equal in upper ones, margins incurved, ciliate below, decurrent into very short auricles; ligule unevenly serrated; auricles 2-3 mm high, flat, having deciduous hairs. Leaves 8-10 per twig; leaf-blades oblong-lanceolate, abaxial surface sparsely white hairy in lower portion when young, margins scabrous, fine serrated, faint cross bars visible; leaf-sheath striate, densely white ciliate, margins ciliate turning glabrous afterwards; ligule glabrous except few hairs near petiole; auricles obscure, mouth end often having 6-7, golden, 2-3 mm long cilia." — A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 13 [#1260].

(3) M. K. Alam in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 54-56, fig. [#1226].

(4) Kew GrassBase [#1335]. (5) J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: p. 42 [#1230].

Images: Line drawing in J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: pl. 39 [#1230]. Photos in AsianFlora (habit, culm) [#1332]; A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 13 fig. A-E (habit, culms, culm-leaf, bud, young shoot) [#1260]; Bambusa balcooa in Guadua Bamboo (habit, culms).

Uses: Young shoots for food; culms for construction, scaffolding, paper pulp, basketry, and woven articles; plants for biomass production (>100 t/ha).

Cultivation requirements: Easy and fast-growing; in full sun, grows in nearly any soil type, including waterlogged soil; can tolerate temperatures as low as 2 °C, and as high as 45 °C.

Comments:

(1) Flowers and seeds are known. Flowering cycle: 35–45 years [#1302]; 32–34 years [#1320].

(2) Bambusa balcooa can be confused with Dendro­calamus calostachyus.

Thai name: ไผ่บีมา (phai bima).

Indonesian name: Bambu bema.

English name: Beema Bamboo.

Distribution: THAILAND: said to have been introduced into central Thailand about 2010/2011. — INDIA (North-East), origin, cultivated elsewhere in the tropics, e.g., in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Culm size: Height up to 25 m, diameter to 15 cm.

Uses: A high-yield bamboo for biomass production.

Comments: "Beema bamboo is a clone of bamboo selected out of open pollinated population of Bambusa balcooa found in North Eastern India followed by multiplication by Tissue Culture. It is a natural open pollinated cross . …" — N. Barathi in Yahoo Group "bamboo-plantation", 20 July 2010.