Dendrocalamus barbatus

Thai names: ไผ่ซางจีน (phai sang chin); ไผ่ซางเขียว (phai sang khiao); ไผ่ตงจีน (phai tong chin). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].

Distribution: THAILAND (North): Chiang Mai Province: Doi Inthanon, planted; Thung Luang, Mae Wang District, planted. Not a native of Thailand, but said to occur locally naturalized. — CHINA (South): southern Yunnan, often cultivated, 300–1,100 m altitude). — Perhaps also in VIETNAM.

Culm size: Height 15–18 (20) m, diameter 10–15 cm.

Descriptions:

(1) "Culms 15–18 m, 10–15 cm in diam., tip slightly drooping; internodes 26–32 cm; wall thick. Branches several, main mid-culm ones 3. Culm sheaths deciduous, orange-brown, ca. 3/4 as long as internodes, leathery, margins ciliate, apex rounded; auricles 5–15 mm; oral setae present or absent; ligule 5–8 mm, serrulate; blade reflexed, glabrous or densely bearded at base. Leaf sheaths sparsely hairy; auricles inconspicuous, sparsely hairy; ligule ca. 1 mm; blade narrowly lanceolate, 10–15 × 1–2 cm. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — var. barbatus: "Culm sheath auricles with oral setae; blade with basal beard." — var. internodiiradicatus: "Culm sheath auricles without oral setae; blade glabrous." — Flora of China, accessed 16 Nov. 2017 [#1303].

(2) "… Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; nodding at the tip, or pendulous at the tip; 1500–1800 cm long; 100–150 mm diam.; woody; with aerial roots from the nodes. Culm-internodes terete; thick-walled; 26–32 cm long; dark green; distally mealy, or glabrous. Culm-nodes flush with internodes. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement many; with 3 branches dominant. Culm-sheaths deciduous; 25–38 cm long; coriaceous; pilose; with tawny hairs; auriculate; with 2–3 mm high auricles; with 5–15 mm wide auricles; setose on shoulders; shoulders with 10 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 3–8 mm high; dentate. Culm-sheath blade ovate; reflexed; 10–30 cm long; acuminate. Leaves 8–15 per branch. Leaf-sheaths pilose. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 10–15 cm long; 10–20 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with 10–12 secondary veins. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase, accessed 16 Nov. 2017 [#1335].

Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]. Photos in fpcn.net (habit, leaves, flowers) [#1344].

Uses: Shoots for food; culms for construction.

Flowering and seeding: (1) The species flowered in Thailand and China in recent years; seeds were collected and seedlings were raised. — (2) Plants have flowered in northern Thailand in 2017 (ธ. บ., pers. comm. 11 Nov. 2017): flowering of Dendrocalamus barbatus, Thailand, on Facebook, 31 Jan. 2017, by Thammarat Boonthammee.

Seed viability: Six months and longer under normal atmospheric conditions; one and a half years under storage at 1–6 °C. — acc. FMXG.

Characteristics (BS-0641 and BS-0641-1): Culm-leaf blade: Base not bearded.

Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 260–340 dried spikelets (husk-wrapped seeds).

Seed germination: (1) Seed placed in moistened coir dust at 100%, in April 2011, atmospheric humidity >70%, coleoptiles emerged after 10 days, germination rate low (<40%). — (2) Seed laid on moistened tissue paper, in April 2012, 29–35 °C day, diffuse light, 18–22 °C night, atmospheric humidity >70%, coleoptiles emerged after 9 days, germination rate very high (>90%). — (3) Seed germination tests 140516, 140827: A germination rate of about 80% can be expected from 4-month-old seeds.

Comments: The plants are a species of Bambusa or Dendrocalamus, but species identification as Dendrocalamus barbatus has not yet been confirmed.