Bambusa vulgaris
Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex J. C. Wendl., Coll. Pl. 2, 1808: 26, t. 47
Thai names: ซางคำ (sang kham) (Northern); จันคำ (chan kham) (Northern); ไผ่กำยาน (phai kam yan) (Bangkok); ไผ่เขียว (phai khiao) (Bangkok); ไผ่จีน (phai chin) (Bangkok); ไผ่มัน (phai man) (Trang); ไผ่ไร่ใหญ่ (phai rai yai) (Loei); ไผ่หลวง (phai luang) (Bangkok); รีไซ (ri-sai) (Khmer). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].
Indonesian name: bambu ampel.
English name: Common Bamboo.
Distribution: The origin is the Old World tropics, but the precise origin location is not known, which could be southern China, South-East Asia, or Madagascar. Nowadays distributed pantropical. — THAILAND: cultivated throughout, locally naturalized, often along ditches.
Local distribution: The green stem form of the species is not frequently planted in the Chiang Mai area; not offered for sale at Kham Thiang Market.
Culm size: Height 10–20 m, diameter 4–10 (15) cm.
Descriptions:
(1) S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 74-78, fig. [#1226].
(2) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
(3) Flora of Taiwan [#1106].
(4) K. M. Wong, Bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia, 1995: p. 100-103, fig. 48 [#1210].
(5) PROTA, Wageningen Univ., accessed 27 Oct. 2017 [#1241].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of Taiwan [#1106]. Photos in BambooWeb.info [#1340].
Uses: Culms for furniture, construction, fencing, and scaffolding; leaves for forage; plants for tall hedges and screening. Shoots bitter, unpalatable.
Cultivation requirements: Easy growing, thrives well in heavy moisture-retentive soil with good drainage, exposed to full sun, tolerates half shade and flooding.
Comments: (1) Flowers known, but no fertile seed known. — (2) Flowering cycle: 150+ years [#1320].
Specimens: BS-0195 [-] (living plant), Chiang Mai, cult., 2008.
Characteristics: Rhizome pachymorph, short-necked, forming erect culms of a dense clump. Young shoots hairy; emerge from March to August/
September. Culm-internodes green, glabrous. Culm-nodes with a whorl of short aerial roots at the lower culm. Branches several, central dominant. Culm-leaf sheaths deciduous, straw-colored when dry, covered with dark rigid hairs. Culm-leaf auricles large, bristly. Culm-leaf ligule short. Foliage-leaf blades medium-sized, green, glabrous on both surfaces, slightly rough above.
Bambusa vulgaris 'Striata'
Synonyms: Bambusa striata Lodd. ex Lindl.; Bambusa vulgaris var. striata (Lodd. ex Lindl.) Gamble; Bambusa vulgaris var. vittata Rivière & C. Rivière; Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata'.
Thai names: ไผ่เหลือง (phai lueang), ไผ่สีเหลือง (phai si lueang). "Lueang" = yellow, "si" = color. A spelling variant frequently found is "pai luang", which pleases English pronunciation but causes confusion with the green-stem bamboo of this species. Indonesian names: bambu kuning, bambu ampel kuning.
English names: Golden Common Bamboo.
Distribution: Pantropical, both naturalized and cultivated (as throughout Thailand).
Local distribution: Widely and frequently planted in gardens and on fields in northern Thailand, found naturalized along rivers and canals. Offered for sale at Kham Thiang Market, Chiang Mai, almost throughout the year.
Culm size: Height 15 m, diameter 5–6 cm.
Description: K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 74, as "Bambusa striata" [#1062].
Images: Line drawing and photos in Bamboos of India, l.c., 1998: p. 74-76 [#1062]. Photos in NTBG (shoot), Bambooweb.info, AsianFlora [#1332].
Uses: Culms for interior design; leaves for forage; plants as ornamental for garden and landscape, suitable as solitary, tall hedges or screens.
Comments:
(1) Flowers are known (fl. Nov. 1873), seeds unknown.
(2) Bambusa vulgaris 'Striata' has extremely low genetic diversity (J. Z. Z. Ooi & al, 2022 [#1374]).
Bambusa vulgaris 'Striata' (BS-0209): Culm with culm-leaf
Specimens: BS-0209 [C8] (living plant), "ไผ่เหลือง (phai lueang)", Chiang Rai Province, cult., 31 Mar. 2009; CM-004, roadside along a ditch near Ban Kok Mon, Chiang Mai, planted.
Characteristics: Culm-internodes bright yellow, randomly marked with green narrow and broad stripes. Young shoots emerge from March.
Bambusa vulgaris 'Wamin'
Synonyms: Bambusa wamin É. G. Camus; Bambusa vulgaris f. waminii T. H. Wen.
Thai names: ไผ่น้ำเต้า (phai nam tao) (BKF [#1368]); ไผ่น้ำเต้ายักษ์ (phai nam tao yak).
Indonesian names: bambu gendang, bambu blenduk, bambu budha.
English names: Wamin Bamboo, Buddha Belly Bamboo.
Distribution: Pantropical, cultivated. — THAILAND: cultivated throughout, introduced from southern China.
Local distribution: Frequently planted in the Chiang Mai area and offered for sale at Kham Thiang Market.
Culm size: Height 2–5 m, diameter 2–5 (7) cm.
Images: Photos in AsianFlora [#1332]. Video on YouTube.
Uses: Culms for interior design and handicraft, plants as a solitary garden ornamental.
Comments: There are similar other "Wamin" variants, possibly somatic mutations: Culms dominant green with yellowish stripes; culms dominant yellowish green or light green with dark green stripes (Thammarat Boonthammee, on Facebook, 11 July 2022); culms dominant yellowish with green stripes. The latter is the most spectacular, rather rare (Lihua Jiang, on Facebook, 28 May 2019), but is cultivated in Thailand and named ไผ่น้ำเต้าทองแคระ (phai nam tao thong khrae) (Yuttahattee Thammachai, on Facebook, 25 Feb. 2021).
Specimen: BS-0196 [E1-R10] (living plant), Chiang Mai, cult., 25 Oct. 2008.
Characteristics: Culms less tall. Culm-internodes inflated.