Dendrocalamus strictus

Synonyms: Bambos stricta Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 1 (4), 1798: 58, t. 80; Bambusa stricta (Roxb.) Roxb., Hort. Bengal., 1814: 25; Fl. Ind. ii, 1832: 193.; Nastus strictus (Roxb.) Sm. in A. Rees, Cycl. (London ed.) xxiv, 1819: n. 2; Bambusa pubescens Lodd. ex Lindl., Penny Cyclop. 3, 1835: 357.

Thai names: ไผ่ซาง (phai sang) (Lampang); ไผ่ซางคำ (phai sang kham); ไผ่ตาดำ (phai ta dam) (Kanchanaburi); ไผ่นวล (phai nuan) (Kanchanaburi); แพด (phaet) (Mae Hong Son); วะมิเลอร์ (wa-mi-loe), วะเมปรี่ (wa-me-pre) (Karen-Kanchanaburi); ไผ่ซางดำ (phai sang dam). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].

English names: Indian Male Bamboo, Male Bamboo, Calcutta Bamboo, Indian Solid Bamboo, Solid Bamboo. Further in use is "Iron Bamboo", mainly by manufacturers of bamboo poles of Dendrocalamus strictus. However, the name "Iron Bamboo" was also applied to a quite different bamboo species, Ferrocalamus strictus. In order to avoid confusion, it would be more appropriate to name D. strictus the "Calcutta Iron Bamboo" or "Indian Iron Bamboo".

Distribution: THAILAND: native; (Central): Kamphaeng Phet Province, wild, plants up to 20 m tall by 8 cm in diameter, in almost pure growth over a large area; (North): Mae Hong Son Province, Mae Sariang, wild, in the mixed deciduous forest; (South): in cultivation. — MYANMAR, native. — INDIA, native. — BANGLADESH, native. — NEPAL, native. — MALAYSIA, introduced. — INDONESIA: Sumatra, Java, introduced. — CHINA (South), introduced. — The main habitat is the deciduous open forest, with low precipitation of less than 800 mm annually, and low atmospheric humidity. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: map 27 [#1342].

Culm size: Height 6–15 m, diameter 2.5–7.5 cm.

Descriptions:

(1) "A medium sized, caespitose, gregarious, densely tufted, deciduous bamboo with erect strong culms. — Rhizome sympodial, pachymorph, solid and with short necks. Culms erect, strong self supporting, height varies under different climatic conditions, 8-15m tall, slightly arched at the top; node faintly swollen, sheath scar prominent, nodal ridge clear, aerial roots arise from the basal nodes, lower nodes often bear branches; internodes 20-35cm long, 4-7cm diameter, short, yellowish green, long, sparsely covered with white powdery mass when young smooth and yellowish when old, wall very thick, sometimes solid; culm sheath 12-22cm long, 4-6cm broad at base, coriaceous, covered with golden brown hairs when young, striate papery, glabrous, deciduous when old, tip truncate, auricle, very short, aural setae represented by short hairs, deciduous; blade erect, almost triangular, 5-8cm long, 2-3.5cm broad at base, smooth, persistent; inner ligule 0.1-0.2cm long, outer ligule inconspicuous. Branches arise from the lower nodes, the central primary branch become dominant, strong, 3-4 laterals develop from it's base, rebranch, branches of the upper nodes are long, drooping, extravaginal; leaves arise on branches, linear-lanceolate, 7-24cm long, 1-2.4cm broad, dorsal surface rough and hirsute, lower side softly hirsute, scabrous along the margins, midrib prominent on the lower side, pellucid dots present on the lamina, tip acuminate, base attenuate to a short petiole, leaf sheath overlapping, hirsute when young, striate, lateral sides at the tip projecting to a prominent callus, ligule inconspicuous; auricle short, ciliate. …" — M. Kumar, 2009, p. 40 [#1188].

(2) "A deciduous densely tufted bamboo. Culms 8-16 m high, 2.5-8 cm diameter, pale blue green when young, dull green or yellow on maturity, much curved above half of its height; nodes somewhat swollen, basal nodes often rooting, lower nodes often with branches; internodes 30-45 cm long, thick-walled. Culm-sheaths variable, lower ones shorter, 8-30 cm long with golden brown stiff hairs on the back, sometimes glabrous in dry localities, striate, rounded at the top, margin hairy; ligule 2-3 mm high, toothed; auricles small, blade triangular, awl-shaped, hairy on both sides. Leaves linear-lanceolate, small in dry localities, up to 25 cm long and 3 cm broad in moist areas, rounded at the base into a short petiole, tip sharply acuminate with twisted point, rough and often hairy above, softly hairy beneath; ligule very short. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 129 [#1062].

(3) "Culms 7–17 m, (3–)6–10 cm in diam.; internodes 30–45 cm, white powdery; wall thick, culm often solid. Branches several, main mid-culm ones 3. Culm sheaths deciduous, orange-brown, ca. 3/4 as long as internodes, thickly papery, margins ciliate, apex rounded; auricles absent; ligule 1–3 mm, serrulate; blade erect, narrowly triangular. Leaf sheaths initially sparsely hairy, becoming glabrous; ligule short, serrulate; blade usually narrowly lanceolate, 5–30 × 1–3 cm. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Flora of China [#1303].

(4) Flora of Taiwan [#1106].

(5) Kew GrassBase [#1335].

(6) K. M. Wong, Bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia, 1995: p. 117-118 [#1210].

(7) P. C. M. Jansen & S. Duriyaprapan in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 93-97, fig. [#1226].

Images: Line drawings in Flora of China [#1303]; Flora of Taiwan [#1106]. Photos in AsianFlora (habit) [#1332]; Y. M. Yang & al., 1998: fig. 10 (shoot) [#1213]. Photos and line drawings in M. Kumar, 2009: p. 41-43 [#1188].

Uses: Shoots edible. Culms for construction, furniture, agricultural tools, and basketry; in India used also as a raw material for paper pulp.

Cultivation requirements: Light soils with good drainage preferred, does not grow well on clay and limestone soil types; does not tolerate waterlogged sites.

Flowering cycle: 20…65 years [#1226]; (20) 25–40 (45) years [#1302]; 8…70 years [#1320].

Seed weight: ≈35,000–50,000 seeds/kg → ≈35–50 seeds/g [#1302].

Seed viability: about 4 months to 1 year under normal tropical or subtropical atmospheric humidity and temperature; viability can be extended under reduced humidity and low temperature.

Comments:

(1) A drought-resistant bamboo; branches often form a thicket around the base of old clumps.

(2) Other species, mainly Dendrocalamus membranaceus, might have often been misidentified as Dendrocalamus strictus.

(3) Culm sheaths in Dendrocalamus strictus were found to be hairy, but said to be frequently glabrous (K. M. Wong, Bamboo - The Amazing Grass, 2004: p. 50 [#1048]).

Specimens: BS-0171 [BBG] (living plants), raised from seeds received from E. P., Germany, as "Bambusa lako", May 2007; BS-0225 [-] (living plants), raised from seeds received from E. P., Germany, as "Dendrocalamus strictus", 21 May 2009.

Characteristics: Culm-internodes solid throughout, farinose when young. Culm-nodes slightly prominent. Culm-leaf sheaths hairy throughout, densely hairy on the sheath base, the hairs dark golden brown when young. Culm-leaf auricles in­conspicuous or lacking. Culm-leaf blade small, erect.

Seed weight: Not recorded.

Seed germination: Not recorded, only 3 seeds (of BS-0171) germinated.

Comments: Several years after sowing, it has become evident from the features of its culm and culm-leaf that the species is not Bambusa lako but Dendrocalamus strictus.

Synonym: Dendrocalamus sericeus Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26 (1), 1868: 148.

Distribution: INDIA (East): Parasnath Hill at ca. 1,200 m altitude, Giridih District, Jharkhand State (located within former Bengal of British India).

Culm size: 7–17 m height, diameter not recorded.

Descriptions:

(1) W. Munro in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26(1), 1868: p. 148-149 [#1251].

(2) J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: p. 80 [#1230].

(3) K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998 [#1062].

(4) Kew GrassBase.

Images: Line drawing in Gamble, 1896: pl. 70; K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998 [#1062].

Characteristics: Rhizomes pachymorph, short-necked, forming culms of a tight clump habit. Culms erect, strong. Culm-inter­nodes thick-walled or solid. Culm-leaf sheaths striate, hispid, hairy on the margins. Culm-leaf blade short, triangular, acute. Foliage-leaf sheaths striate, somewhat keeled, pilose. Foliage-leaf ligule narrow, ciliate. Foliage-leaf blades lanceolate, 12–40 cm long, 1.7–2.5 cm broad, hispid above, hairy below, apex long acuminate and twisted, base rounded; margins scabrous; midrib prominent beneath, shining, secondary veins 6–7 pairs; pseudopetiole long. — Based on the description by Gamble, and on descriptions in Bamboos of India and Kew GrassBase.

Comments:

(1) Flowers known, seed unknown.

(2) "Dendrocalamus sericeus is similar to Dendrocalamus strictus in vegetative and floral characters and this species could not be relocated after the type collection. Comparative studies and illustrations revealed that this species is a geoclimatic varient of D. strictus and hence synonymised under D. strictus." — M. Kumar, Revisionary Studies on Four Genera of Indian Bamboos, KFRI Research Report No. 330, 2009: p. 45 [#1188].

(3) "This species [Dendrocalamus sericeus Munro] is similar to D. strictus except for smaller heads of flowers". — J. Kumar & A. Kumar Sinha, Studies on Bamboo Species Growing in the Indo-Nepal Terai Region and Bihar State of India, in Bamboo in the Asia Pacific, Proceedings 4th International Bamboo Workshop, 1981: p. 28 [#1250].

(4) Bamboos known and repeatedly published in Thailand as Dendro­calamus sericeus, associated with the Thai common name ไผ่ซางหม่น (phai sang mon), are neither this species nor are they similar to Dendro­calamus strictus. Plants of ไผ่ซางหม่น (phai sang mon) are a still unidentified species of Dendrocalamus, and similar to, but possibly not conspecific with Dendrocalamus giganteus.