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Dendrocalamus copelandii (Gamble ex Brandis) N. H. Xia & Stapleton, Kew Bull. 52 (2), 1997: 484 [#1193]
Synonyms: Bambusa copelandii Gamble ex Brandis, Indian Trees, 1906: 671; Sinocalamus copelandii (Gamble ex Brandis) Raizada, Indian Forester 74, 1948: 10; Dendrocalamopsis copelandii (Gamble ex Brandis) Keng f., J. Bamboo Res. 2 (1), 1983: 12, as "copelandi".
Type: India, Dehra Dun, Gamble 27166, lectotype K, K000854940 (culms, culm-leaves, foliage-leaves), selected by N. H. Xia & Stapleton — N. H. Xia & Stapleton, in Kew Bull. 52(2), 1997: p. 484 [#1193].
Thai names: ไผ่มันหมู (phai man mu); ไผ่หกน้ำ (phai hok nam); ไผ่เป๊าะ (phai po). Phai man mu (man = fat; mu = pig, pork) alludes to the copious amount of wax of the internodes. The name phai po is applied to other species, too. — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].
Burmese name: Wagyi.
English name: Pig Fat Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND (West): Provinces of Kanchanaburi and Tak; (North): Mae Hong Son Province; in mixed deciduous forest and dry evergreen forest. Herbarium material of this species from Thailand is not known to be lodged at Kew. — MYANMAR (North), native. — INDIA, cultivated.
Culm size: Height 15–30 m, diameter 8–25 cm. This culm size is recorded from plants in Kanchanaburi populations, and the diameter of 25 cm was verified. Plants in Mae Hong Son populations are known to have considerably smaller maximum sizes, both in height and diameter.
Descriptions:
(1) "A large, elegant, tufted bamboo. Culms up to 20 m tall, 16-19 cm in diameter at the base, walls fairly thick at the base; nodes hardly prominent; internodes upto 45 cm long on robust culms, when young covered with appressed silvery hairs. Culm-sheaths 38 cm long and 30 cm broad at the base, thick, covered with scanty golden-yellow hairs outside, polished inside, top rounded towards the short and narrow blade. Blade and edge of sheath in young shoots very sharp, copper coloured; auricles absent or minute. Leaves 33-38 cm long and 4.5-8 cm broad, ovate-lanceolate, rounded at the base, almost smooth and glabrous above, softly hairy and scabrous beneath, secondary nerves quite prominent, transverse veinlets visible on the lower surface. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 50, as "Bambusa copelandi" [#1062].
(2) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 1500–2000 cm long; 16–19 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; with small lumen; 25–45 cm long; distally pubescent. Culm-nodes flush with internodes. Lateral branches dendroid. Culm-sheaths 38 cm long; 0.9 times as long as wide; pubescent; with yellow hairs; convex at apex. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate. Leaves cauline. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate, or ovate; 33–38 cm long; 45–80 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with distinct cross veins. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough abaxially; pubescent; hairy abaxially. … Fertile Spikelets: Spikelets comprising 4–7 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets lanceolate; laterally compressed; 25–38 mm long; 5–7 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes definite. … Flower: Lodicules 3; membranous; veined; ciliate. Anthers 6; 8 mm long; yellow; anther tip apiculate. Filaments 15 mm long. Stigmas 1; plumose. Styles 15 mm long. Ovary umbonate; pubescent on apex. …" — Kew GrassBase, as "Bambusa copelandii", accessed 27 Oct. 2020 [#1335].
(3) "Sympodial bamboo. Culms straight and erect, about 15–30 m long, 8–20 cm in diam., with relatively thin walls, about 1–2 cm thick, culm tips more or less arching; internodes 20–48 cm long, lower ones without hairs, covered with copious white wax when young; nodes not swollen, lower ones without verticils of roots. Branches several at each node, the primary one dominant, without aerial roots. Culm-sheaths tardily deciduous to persistent, coriaceous, 28–46.5 cm long by 42–55 cm wide, top convexly horizontal, covered with golden brown to dark brown hairs, occasionally glabrous; blades lanceolate, erect to spreading, 10–25.5 cm long, ca 5 cm wide near the base, hairy near the adaxial base; auricles continuing from the base of culm-sheath blade as fleshy, crisped lobes, 2–5 mm tall/wide, 10–40 mm long, margin wavy or pleated, glabrous; ligule 3–10 mm high, margin dentate to subentire, fringed with cilia up to 0.5 mm long. Leaf blades 10–27 cm long by 2.4–4 cm wide, hairy below, apex acuminate, base rounded to acute, pseudopetiole 2–10 mm long; auricles absent; ligule 1–1.2 mm high, margin dentate, fringed with cilia 0.1–0.2 mm long. Inflorescences iterauctant, borne on leafless branches, spikelets congested, forming stellate clusters subtended by a 1-keeled prophyll and a 1-keeled matching bract, axis hairy, internodes 1.5–2.5 cm long. Pseudospikelets ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, laterally compressed, 20–28 mm long by 5.5–7.3 mm wide; transitional (empty) glumes 2–9, shorter than the lowest lemma, 7–35-nerved; fertile florets 5–6, terminal vestigial floret present, shorter than florets; rachilla internodes between florets short, not disarticulating below each floret; lemmas chartaceous, 12–25 mm long, minutely pubescent on the back, 23–37-nerved, apex acute to pointed; paleas membranous, 9.2–22 mm long, 2-keeled on the back, keels and edges long-fringed, the uppermost one not keeled, outside minutely pubescent, inside sparsely and minutely pubescent to glabrous, apex shortly bidentate, 2–3(–5)-nerved between keels, edges very narrow, not nerved; lodicules usually 3, occasionally none, hyaline, pubescent; stamens 6, filaments free, anthers 5–11 mm long, yellow, tips pointed, usually with minute spines; ovary umbonate, summit hairy, with long slender style, stigma 1, slightly plumose. Caryopsis 12–16 mm long, contracted towards the apex, almost bottled-shaped, slightly grooved on one side; pericarp rather thick and loose." — S. Sungkaew & al., in Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany), 35, 2007: 94-97, fig. 1A-M [#1060].
The lower section of a young culm of Dendrocalamus copelandii at the Bamboo Center, Roy. Proj. Foundation, Mae Hia, Chiang Mai (MH-008)
Images: Line drawing in S. Sungkaew & al., in Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany), 35, 2007: 96, fig. 1A-M [#1060]. Photos in Kasetsart Univ., Forestry (shoot), and in BamboosThailand2; photos by Niramit Sareerudt on Facebook, 6 Dec. 2013 (culms and shoots).
Characteristics (Dendrocalamus copelandii vs. D. sinicus , 1): Distinguishing vegetative characteristics of three giant species of genus Dendrocalamus.
Characteristics of the species Dendrocalamus sinicus, D. copelandii, and D. giganteus are compared. In the following, characteristics of Dendrocalamus giganteus are not discussed, as this species can easily be recognized by its culm-leaf, whereas Dendrocalamus sinicus and D. copelandii are so similar in all vegetative characteristics that they can hardly be distinguished from each other. Their postulated distinguishing characteristics (as shown in the table on the right, or accessible via the link above) are explained in more detail here:
1 — In Dendrocalamus sinicus, when the plant was young and the culms were small, brown short hairs were found to be sparsely distributed on the lower internodes, but no hairs were detected in older and larger culms. The surface of the internodes is not smooth in both species; it is equally slightly rough in both species but hardly scurfy.
2 — In old clumps of D. sinicus, aerial roots are present on several basal nodes, possibly up to ca. 1 m above the ground; aerial roots were also seen in an old clump of D. copelandii, but only appeared on the first or second lowest node.
3 — Culm-leaves may rot in both species while attached to the internodes of the basal and lower culms. After about 3 years with D. sinicus, the culm-leaves are completely rotten, and the internodes may be bare of culm-leaves, with or without remnants. In D. copelandii, this can happen a little earlier.
4 — Not the slightest difference could be found between the two species in terms of texture, structure, and shape of the culm-leaves. However, there might be a minor difference in the shape of the sheath apex.
5 — This pattern may apply if you are comparing only thick culms of similar diameters, but small culms and culms of significantly different diameters may not support this pattern.
6 — A significantly different color of the indument of the culm-leaf surface between the two species has not yet been found.
7 — In D. copelandii, culm-leaf blades drop off more frequently and a little earlier, but some remain attached to the sheath for quite a long time or even permanently.
8 — Presumably, the thicker the culms, the smaller and less noticeable the auricles of the culm-leaves on the basal and lower culms, so that with very thick culms it can be said that auricles are not present.
Characteristics (Dendrocalamus copelandii vs. D. sinicus
Characteristics (Dendrocalamus copelandii vs. D. sinicus , 2):
9 — Culm-leaf sheath apex:
Culm-leaves of Dendrocalamus copelandii, represented by four specimens, BS-0447, BS-0185, BS-0199, and seedling BS-0418-1A, were compared with one specimen of Dendrocalamus sinicus, BS-0617. All specimens have a culm diameter of at least 6 cm. The sheath apex in D. copelandii is not rounded as in D. sinicus but rather truncate. Although the middle part of the rounded apex of D. sinicus is somewhat horizontal or gradually slightly downcurved, D. copelandii is more pronouncedly downcurved and begins abruptly at both edges, thus appearing truncate. However, more observations with more samples are required to assess whether this trait is reliable and can be used for discriminatory identification.10 — Culm-leaf auricles:
While the auricles of D. sinicus with a culm diameter of more than 6 cm are hardly recognizable on the lower culm, they are larger and therefore clearly recognizable in all 4 of the aforementioned specimens of D. copelandii. It has not yet been observed whether they will remain recognizable when the culms become thicker, or whether they will become tiny and inconspicuous. The width of the auricles is 15–25 mm, and the height near the connection with the blade is 3–5 mm, which is about twice the size of D. sinicus (width 5–7 mm, height 1–1.5 mm). All other characteristics of the auricles, such as texture, shape, color, and lack of hair, are the same in both species, only the size is different. This trait also requires more observations with more samples to find out if it is reliable and can be used for discriminatory identification.11 — Farina:
The internodes of both species, D. copelandii and D. sinicus, are thinly farinose. The farina lasts for a long period, at least for one season, and is not easily washed off, but it can be scraped off. However, there are plants of D. copelandii that are thickly farinose, and the farina is a white waxy deposit that can be easily removed. These plants are named ไผ่มันหมู (phai man mu), man = fat, mu = pig, which is D. copelandii. It is not known whether such a variant occurs in D. sinicus.
Uses: Culms for construction; shoots said to be delicious but have a slightly bitter taste.
Cultivation requirements: Easy-growing in loamy, rather moist soil with good drainage, exposed to half-shade or full sun (seems to prefer partial shade but can withstand full sun); not drought-tolerant.
Flowering cycle: 47–48 years [#1320].
Seed viability: Unknown, viability is assumed to last at least several months.
Comments:
(1) Flowering and seeding of ไผ่มันหมู (phai man mu) in Thailand in 2010 were recorded (Facebook, 22 Mar. 2014).
(2) This species is placed in the genus Bambusa by The Plant List and Kew GrassBase, both accessed 27 Oct. 2020.
(3) The placement of this species in the genus Dendrocalamus is justified by the presence of narrow single-keeled prophylls in the clusters of spikelets (broad two-keeled prophylls characterize Bambusa). The usual presence of three lodicules and their occasional lack in this species is not a stable character and is no longer considered to be a reliable character in discriminating Bambusa from Dendrocalamus. — N. H. Xia & C. M. A. Stapleton, Kew Bull. 52 (2), 1997: 483-485 [#1193].
(4) Judging from vegetative characteristics, the species shares several characteristics that are commonly seen in Dendrocalamus: 1, furry waxy deposit on internodes (waxy or farinose but not furry internodes can also be found in some species of Bambusa); 2, small rim-like culm-leaf auricles (often described as lack or absence of auricles, as auricles are commonly understood to be lobe-like structures as in many species of Bambusa); 3, large foliage-leaf blades (usually small or medium-sized in Bambusa, but some Dendrocalamus species have small blades, too, e.g., Dendrocalamus dumosus); 4, culms with no low branching (many Bambusa species develop low branching, but some do not, like Bambusa textilis).
(5) Dendrocalamus copelandii is very similar to Dendrocalamus sinicus, from which it is difficult to distinguish in the juvenile stage. It is extremely unlikely that the two species belong to different genera.
Specimens: BS-0185 [N4] (living plant), Chiang Mai, Suan Noi Nursery at Kham Thiang Market, cult., 12 Oct. 2008, said to originate from Phrae; BS-0199 [W4] (living plants), Suan Noi Nursery, Saraphi, said to originate from cultivated plants at Phrae, received 9 Dec. 2008, as "ไผ่หวานช่อแฮ (phai wan cho hae)" or "ไผ่ช่อแฮ (phai cho hae)", the Thai name refers to the monastery วัดพระธาตุช่อแฮ (Wat Phrathat Cho Hae) nearby Phrae.
Dendrocalamus copelandii, ไผ่หวานช่อแฮ (phai wan cho hae): Young culm, showing farinose internode, culm-leaf with rim-like, purplish auricles and sparsely hairy sheath (BS-0185, left and center), old culm with decaying culm-leaves (BS-0185, right)
Characteristics (BS-0185): Habit caespitose, tight clump. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms erect, straight, usually ascending from the base, unbranched on the lower part, bending outwards above, about 10 m tall by 8 cm in basal diameter. Young shoots light green to reddish or pinkish with usually a few dark brown to blackish hairs, upper culm leaf sheath margin, ligule, and blade purplish black, blades patent to reflexed, shooting from early April to August. Culm-internodes 18–28 (35) cm long, dull green, light brownish when old, glabrous, smooth, thinly to thickly covered with white waxy powder when young (causing a whitish to bluish appearance); walls relatively thin (6th internode 87 cm above the ground with wall 9 mm thick by 4.9 cm culm diameter); nodal diaphragm sealed on thin culms [not yet seen on thick culms]. Culm-nodes not prominent, flush with internodes, glabrous, usually without aerial roots. Branches few, subequal, the central one slightly dominant. Culm-leaves late deciduous, or persistent, lower ones may decay while attached to the internode (tardily removable from the internode, but upper ones are easily removable). Culm-leaf sheath usually a little shorter than the internode of lower and mid-culms, thinly papery, light green, yellowish-green, purplish or copper-colored when young, yellowish-brown when dry, with scattered mid-brown, dark brown or blackish hairs, glabrous near apex; apex rounded with horizontal or slightly concave 4–6 cm broad middle part, purplish along upper margin when young; margins entire and eciliate on the upper section, ciliolate on the lower section when young. Culm-leaf auricles very low, entire purplish rims, without bristles, undulate at the connection with the blade. Culm-leaf ligule 1–4 mm long, dark purplish, subentire, or finely fringed. Culm-leaf blade lanceolate, dark purplish, densely dark hairy above near attachment with sheath, horizontally patent to reflexed, caducous. Foliage-leaves (7) 9–12 (16) per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheath glabrous, somewhat keeled, yellowish-brown, reddish toward the apex. Foliage-leaf auricles none. Foliage-leaf ligule 1–1.5 mm long, dark reddish-brown, subentire. Foliage-leaf blade 21–42 × 4–9.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, mid-green to dark green and glossy above, dull bluish-green beneath; base rounded; margins antrorsely scabrous when young, less so or smooth when old; apex attenuate; midrib proximally prominent and whitish-green beneath; pseudopetiole 2–8 mm long and 2–7 mm broad.
Comments: (1) BS-0185, ไผ่หวานช่อแฮ (phai wan cho hae), is said to grow less tall to about 10 m by 7 cm in diameter, and is mainly planted for its palatable shoots. — (2) No difference in characteristics between BS-0185 and BS-0199 was found, and they could well represent the same clone. — (3) BS-0447 grows much taller and has a bigger diameter than BS-0185 and BS-0199.
Specimen: BS-0447 [C8-R04] (living plant), Chiang Mai, Kham Thiang Market, cult., received as ไผ่เป๊าะ (phai po), 17 May 2010.
Characteristics: Culm-internodes 17–33 cm long; walls relatively thin (1,1 m above ground with wall 7 mm thick by 8.5 cm culm diameter). Branch-buds solitary, the first 7 nodes without buds.
Dendrocalamus copelandii (BS-0447): Apex of a dried culm-leaf, with rim-like auricles and blade (left); apex of a culm-leaf attached to a young culm, showing a blade that was manually pushed down from its originally deflexed position into a horizontal position in order to better recognize the blackish, rim-like auricles and the low ligule with an entire margin (right)
Specimens: BS-0018 [BBG] (living plant), Nan, ธ. ล., July 2011; BS-0418-2 [-] (living plant), Kanchanaburi, ธ. ล., Dec. 2010; BS-0587 [BBG] (living plant), Mae Hong Son, seedling, wild, Dec. 2010; MH-008, MH-008-1, MH-008-2, MH-051 (living plants), Mae Hia, cult.
Comments: The nodal diaphragm of BS-0418-2 is sealed (has no opening).
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. with bluish-green shoot
Specimen: BS-0634-1 [BBG] (living plants), Central Thailand, cult.
Characteristics: Young shoots with a bluish-green margin of the upper culm-leaf sheath, dark bluish-green to blackish-green culm-leaf blades. Culm-leaf ligule higher. — otherwise as in clones of BS-0185 etc.
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. with pea-green shoot
Specimen: BS-0634 [BBG] (living plants), Central Thailand, cult.
Characteristics: Young shoots pea-green throughout, culm-leaf sheaths with scarce mid-brown hairs. Culm-leaf ligule higher. — otherwise as in clones of BS-0185 etc.
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. with reddish shoot, hairy
Specimens: BS-0339, [†] (living plant), from Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand, cult., received as "ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong)", 28 Nov. 2009, started gregarious flowering in Nov. 2014; BS-0339A [-] (seeds), collected in low quantity from BS-0339 by D. O., 1 Mar. – 1 Apr. 2015; BS-0341-1 [†] (living plant), from Kanchanaburi, cult., received as "ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong)", 28 Nov. 2009, started gregarious flowering in Oct. 2014; BS-0341-1A [-] (seeds), collected in low quantity from BS-0341-1 by D. O., 2 Apr. 2015.
Characteristics: Young shoots reddish, hairy. Spikelets 1.8–2.0 cm long, laterally compressed, green, changing to purple. Anthers pale yellow.
Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 65–75 dried spikelets (bract-wrapped seeds).
Seed germination: Not tested.
Comments: (1) Similar in general appearance to Dendrocalamus sinicus but smaller. — (2) When flowering started, the plants were still immature, and vegetative characteristics could not be described precisely. Plants died after flowering and fruiting.
ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong) from Kanchanaburi (BS-0339): Flowering branch
ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong) from Kanchanaburi (BS-0339A): Seeds, one seed bare of husks
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. with greenish-ocher shoot, almost glabrous
Specimen: BS-0510, [BBG] (living plant), Chiang Mai, Kham Thiang Market, cult., received as "ไผ่บงหวาน (phai bong wan)", 10 July 2010.
Characteristics: Young shoots greenish-ocher, culm-leaf sheaths almost glabrous. Culm-internodes: Occasionally with a much-shortened internode of the lower culm.
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. from Kanchanaburi
Thai name: Plant received as ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong). The name phai prong (prong = open, airy) refers to the nodal diaphragm, which is not sealed but has an opening of irregular shape (photo BS-0418-1_59).
Distribution: THAILAND (West): Kanchanaburi.
Culm size: Height ca. 15 m, diameter ca. 15 cm.
ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong) from Kanchanaburi (BS-0418-1): Young shoot without hairs (left), spikelets (right)
Specimens: BS-0418-1 [†] (living plant), from Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand, wild, collected by ธ. ล., received as "ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong)", 21 Jan. 2010, the plant flowered 2013–2014, seeded and died; BS-0418-1A [E4] (living plant), raised from seeds of BS-0418-1: a low quantity of seeds (BS-0418-1A) collected by D. O., from mid-Mar. until mid-June 2014, from the single flowering plant.
Characteristics: Habit unicaespitose, dense clump. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms straight, erect, slightly bending outwards above, ultimate length and diameter not yet known (BS-0418-1A over 12 m long by 6.5 cm in diameter in June 2021). Young shoots conical; sheath glabrous, light green with reddish eciliate margins; culm-leaf blades spreading, erect to reflexed, dark purplish; emerge from May. Culm-internodes terete, 17–21 cm long, dull green, smooth, glabrous, farinose (farina thin and durable, not easy to wipe off); walls relatively thin. Culm-nodes glabrous, not prominent; with an opening in the diaphragm; nodal line horizontal, marginally protruding, ca. 5 mm broad (at nodes of 6.5 cm in diameter), brown; supranodal line obscure, without a ridge, ca. 5 mm above the nodal line; with a white sericeous ca. 1 cm high band below the nodal line when young; aerial roots none. Branch-buds solitary, ovate, ca. 13 mm wide, 10 mm high, short-pointed, present from the 2nd or 3rd basal node up. Branches several, unequal, central one dominant; unbranched on the basal, lower, and partly on mid-culm; branching intravaginal; rebranching. Culm-leaves persistent and decaying on unbranched nodes of the basal and lower culm, late deciduous on the mid-culm and upper culm. Culm-leaf sheaths parabolic, ca. 20 cm wide at the base, 30 cm long, longer than the internode on the basal and lower culm; papery, green with a reddish tint when young, straw-colored when dry, dark brownish when old, usually glabrous, occasionally with patches of scattered appressed dark hairs on both sides of the sheath, mainly toward the base; apex rounded, with its middle part somewhat horizontal or slightly concave-depressed; margins reddish when young, usually eciliate, some segments occasionally pale ciliate. Culm-leaf auricles low erect glabrous eciliate slightly waved rims, deep purplish when young, adnate to and contiguous with the basal margin of the blade, extending with gradually decreased height toward (and almost reaching) the sheath margin. Culm-leaf ligule ca. 2–3 mm high, continuous with the apical sheath margin, deep purplish, toothed, or with some short fringes. Culm-leaf blades papery to leathery, reflexed, persistent or late caducous, lanceolate, deep purplish when young, straw-colored when dry, adaxially near the base with brown hairs. Foliage-leaves (7) 9–15 (18) per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths light green to reddish when young, glabrous; apex truncate, reddish when young; margins eciliate. Foliage-leaf auricles inconspicuous, very low glabrous rims, deep purplish when young; without oral setae. Foliage-leaf ligule 1–2 mm high, purplish when young, margin subentire or denticulate. Foliage-leaf blades lanceolate, 14–22 × 3–6 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, deep glossy green above, dull green beneath; base rounded to wedge-shaped; apex attenuate; margins antrorsely scabrous; midvein proximally prominent and yellowish green beneath; pseudopetiole 3–6 mm long. Flowers and seeds are known. Pseudospikelets in tufts of long leafless branches, 2.0 (2.3) cm long, laterally compressed, green, changing to purple. Anthers 6, pale yellow; filaments free. Stigmas short, whitish, plumose.
Uses: Culms are used as water pipes and for construction; culms are said to be very hard and strong, and very pest-resistant.
Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 65–75 dried spikelets (bract-wrapped seeds).
Seed germination: Seeds (BS-0418-1A) bare of husks laid on moistened tissue paper, 25–34 °C day, diffuse light, 17–22 °C night, atmospheric humidity >70%, coleoptiles emerged after 4 days, germination rate very high, 9 of 10 seeds sprouted by the 10th day, all 10 seeds by the 15th day (test 140320).
Comments:
(1) Similar in appearance to Dendrocalamus sinicus, but smaller.
(2) The plant BS-0418-1 started flowering gregariously in November 2013 and died in July 2014.
(3) Pollen predators: During flowering, the flowers were intensively visited by bees. Photos of this occasion were taken (on Facebook, 9 Dec. 2013). The bee in the photos was identified as Apis cerana Fabricius (1793). Identification was carried out by the entomologist Dr. Ricardo Ayala-Barajas. Thanks to him, and to Dr. Eduardo Ruiz Sánchez who helped make identification possible.
(4) The plant is very similar to Dendrocalamus copelandii. However, Dendrocalamus copelandii was described as having larger spikelets, 2.5–3.8 cm long. In vegetative characteristics, BS-0418-1 looks similar to Dendrocalamus copelandii and Dendrocalamus sinicus.
(5) Seeds were collected from mid-March until mid-June 2014, and seedlings were raised.
(6) Culm sheaths are very similar in shape and texture to BS-0185 etc., ไผ่มันหมู phai man mu, and to Dendrocalamus sinicus from Yunnan (BS-0617, 巨龙竹 jù lóng zhú), but plants of BS-0418-1 (and BS-0185, BS-0199) have fewer hairs, which are mainly located on the lower part of the sheath. Similar to Dendrocalamus sinicus, plants of BS-0418-1 (and BS-0185, BS-0199) have little white powder or wax on the surface of the internodes, whereas plants named phai man mu are thickly covered with white wax.
ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong) from Kanchanaburi (BS-0418-1A): Seeds
ไผ่โปร่ง (phai prong) from Kanchanaburi (BS-0418-1A): Seeds germinating, 13th day
Dendrocalamus copelandii cl. from Kanchanaburi
Specimen: BS-0410 [E1-R09] (living plant), Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, wild, received from ธ. ล. as "ไผ่มัน" (phai man), 10 Jan. 2010.
Characteristics: Culm-internodes glabrous, with a white deposit, thick-walled. Culm-nodes with aerial roots on the basal culm. Culm-leaves deciduous. Culm-leaf sheath covered with brown hairs. Culm-leaf auricles of inconspicuous low rims, or lacking. Culm-leaf ligule very long, fringed. Foliage-leaves about 9 per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths orange when young, glabrous. Foliage-leaf auricles none. Foliage-leaf ligule entire. Foliage-leaf blades large.
Uses: Not recorded. It was said that the shoots did not have good taste.
Provisional identification: Not yet attempted as the plant is immature, supposed to represent Dendrocalamus copelandii. The plant flowered sporadically from Dec. 2013 for a few months, thereupon became weak, and has not recovered since (Oct. 2015). No seeds were produced.
Comments: Culm size was not recorded.
Dendrocalamus copelandii pop. Salawin — ไผ่สาละวิน (phai salawin)
Thai names: ไผ่สาละวิน (phai salawin), ไผ่เป๊าะยักษ์สาละวิน (phai po yak salawin).
English name: Not recorded.
Distribution: THAILAND (North): Mae Hong Son, in the area of Salween River (แม่น้ำสาละวิน), abundant in Mae Sariang (แม่สะเรียง), wild. — MYANMAR.
Culm size: Height 25 m, diameter 12–23 cm.
Images: Post and photo of ไผ่สาละวิน (phai salawin) by Yong Bamboo on Facebook, 21 Feb. 2014; post and photos of ไผ่เป๊าะยักษ์สาละวิน (phai po yak salawin) by สวนไผ่บงหวาน เพชรน้ำผึ้ง (suan phai bong wan, phet nam phueng) on Facebook, 23 Mar. 2014, and 25 March 2014.
Specimens: None collected.
Provisional identification: Assumed to be conspecific with Dendrocalamus copelandii.
Comments:
(1) Flowers and seeds are known.
(2) It is abundant in both the Thai [Mae Hong Son Province] and Myanmar area of the Salween [River] Basin forests. There are many thousands of clumps in the wild, which flowered almost all and died in 2010, and [seedlings] gradually grow up until now. This bamboo is popular for its shoot used fresh as food, and used for making processed bamboo shoots; of slightly bitter, astringent taste. Young shoots are not hairy. The bamboo stems were used up a lot. Culm diameter 5–9 in, height 25 m, culm walls 2–4 cm thick (translated from Facebook).
Dendrocalamus copelandii 'Prakai Thong' (ประกายทอง)
Images: Photos on Facebook, 8 Nov. 2017.
Characteristics: Culm-internodes with a few narrow stripes in pale yellow; foliage leaves with numerous narrow stripes in yellowish-green.
Comments: A cultivated variety raised from seeds by ธ. บ., Hang Dong, Chiang Mai, in 2014.
Dendrocalamus copelandii 'Prakai Thong' from Facebook, 8 Nov. 2017
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