Bambusa oliveriana
Bambusa oliveriana Gamble, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 7, 1896: 130.
Thai names: ไผ่หอบ (phai hop) (Northern); ไผ่หางช้าง (phai hang chang) (Northern). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003].
Myanmar name: wa-pyu-san (Burmese).
English names: Elephant Tail Bamboo; Oliver Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND, mainly in the North and West, wild in mixed deciduous forest and dry evergreen forest, and planted. — MYANMAR, at 300–700 m altitude. — INDIA (North-East, North): Mizoram, Sikkim.
Descriptions:
(1) "A pretty, moderate sized, tufted bamboo. Culms 13-15 m high, 2.5-5 cm in diameter, glossy green; walls thick; internodes about 35 cm long; branches many from the base upwards. Culm-sheaths 20-25 cm long and 10-13 cm broad, pale, glabrous on both sides or hirsute on the back when young; ligule 2-3 mm high, serrate; auricles fringed; blade 10-20 cm long and 5-8 cm broad, triangular-lanceolate, cordate at the base, covered on both sides with scattered stiff brown hairs. Young shoots columnar, sheath green with membranous margin, blade brown, apex pointed; auricles brown. Leaves 10-18 cm long and 1-1.5 cm broad, linear, ending in a long twisted needle-like point; attenuated or rounded at base into 3-4 mm long petiole, glabrous, scabrous on the margins; leaf-sheath glabrous, striate, callus emarginate, ligule long. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 66 [#1062].
(2) "A pretty, moderate sized, erect, loosely clumped bamboo. Culms 12-15 m high, 4-6 cm in diameter, glossy green, appressed white pubescence resulting in lower part of culm appearing cream-coloured; nodes even, white hairy below nodal line; internodes 20-35 cm long, thick walled; nodal bud roundedly ovate. Culm-sheaths late deciduous, persistent on lower nodes, smaller than internodes, triangular, yellowish-brown, somewhat thick crustaceous; sheath proper 14-24 cm long, 20-34 cm broad at base, fine velvety and sharp brown hairy on outer surface, margins glabrous; imperfect blade shorter, as broad as top of sheath, erect, cordate, rounded at base and joined with auricles, sharp hairy on both surfaces, later glabrous; ligule fine ciliate at mouth; auricles dissimilar, somewhat rounded, sheath margin ciliate. Leaves 6-9 per twig; leaf-blades lanceolate, glabrous on both surfaces except few scabrid marginal nerves on adaxial surface, margins serrate, no cross bars; leaf-sheath glabrous, smooth at margins; ligule narrow, truncate; auricles short, mouth end often having 1-2 cilia." — A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 18 [#1260].
(3) "… caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 1300–1500 cm long; 25–50 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; hollow; 35 cm long; distally pruinose, or glabrous. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement many. Culm-sheaths 20–25 cm long; 2 times as long as wide; glabrous; convex at apex; auriculate. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate, or triangular; cordate; 10–20 cm long; hispid. Leaves cauline. Leaf-sheaths striately veined; glabrous on surface. Ligule an eciliate membrane; erose. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.2–0.4 cm long. Leaf-blades linear; 10–18 cm long; 10–15 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation indistinct; with 8–10 secondary veins. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins scaberulous. Leaf-blade apex attenuate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase [#1335].
(4) J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: p. 130 [#1230].
Images: Line drawing in J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: pl. 116 [#1230]. Photos in BambooWeb.info (habit, shoot) [#1340]; A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 18 fig. A-E (habit, culms, young shoot, culm-leaf, node) [#1260]. Photos of culms, culm sheath, habit of a mature plant, by สวนกิ่งไผ่ หน่อไม้หวาน (suan king phai no mai wan) on Facebook, 5 Oct. 2015, Post by สวนกิ่งไผ่ หน่อไม้หวาน.
Uses: Culms for construction; plants for screening.
Specimen: BS-0487 [W4] (living plant), received from cultivated stock from Australia, June 2010.
Characteristics: Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms straight erect, or bending. Culm-internodes glossy green, thick-walled on the lower and mid-culm with a small cavity, solid on the basal culm. Culm-leaves deciduous. Culm-leaf sheaths farinose when young. Culm-leaf auricles unequal, with oral setae. Culm-leaf ligule short, entire. Culm-leaf blade early caducous. Branches from the basal culm up. Foliage-leaf blades small.
Specimen: BS-0632 [BBG] (living plant), received from cultivated stock as "ไผ่หางช้าง (phai hang chang)" from Kanchanaburi Province, 21 Mar. 2011.
Characteristics: Young shoots conical, farinose, occasionally with yellowish-green streaks; they emerge from May. Culm-internodes farinose when young, otherwise glabrous; solid throughout, except on mid-culm with a very small lumen (5 mm with a culm diameter of 3–4 cm). Culm-nodes flat or slightly prominent, with a white ring above and below the nodal line; basal nodes with aerial roots. Branches many, 1–3 dominant. Culm-leaves late deciduous, almost persistent on the lower culm, about half as long as the internode, or shorter. Culm-leaf sheath light green, farinose, proximally and distally scattered with short brown hairs when young, becoming whitish, glabrous or nearly so when dry, dark straw-colored with short dark brown to blackish hairs when old; margins ciliate. Culm-leaf auricles large, erect, unequal lobes, contiguous with the blade; oral setae pale, waved. Culm-leaf blade erect, farinose when young, triangular, base broad with rounded edges, occasionally caducous. Foliage-leaf sheaths farinose when young, otherwise glabrous. Foliage-leaf auricles large erect lobes, orange when young, with pale erect bristles. Foliage-leaf blades lanceolate to oblong, medium-sized to small.
Bambusa oliveriana (BS-0487): Dried culm-leaf, abaxial (outer) side (top), adaxial (inner) side (bottom)