Dinochloa malayana

Descriptions:

(1) "Culms solid or with small lumen, 7 – 10 mm diam., internodes 10 – 20 cm long, very rough or coarse, covered with stiff pale hairs. Culm leaves with sheaths 7 – 9 cm long, about 2.5 cm near the base, 6 mm wide at the apex, purplish green, rough, covered with stiff pale hairs, base with scattered white hairs to glabrescent; auricles not present; ligule very short, entire; blades erect at first, then deflexed, 2 – 5 cm long, up to 5 mm wide near the base, with very long narrow tips, pubescent, especially near the base. Leaf-blades 6 – 20 cm long, 1.5 – 5 cm wide, base attenuate to rounded, with long acuminate tips, glabrous, smooth; sheaths glabrous; auricles very small, usually with long bristles; ligule very short. … [flowers described] … Fruits not seen." — S. Dransfield, Kew Bull. 51(1), 1996: 103-117 [#1382].

(2) "Sympodial bamboo, climbing or twining on other plants up to 6 m high. Shoots green with purple or maroon culm-sheath, covered with white hairs and white wax, rough but becoming smooth when mature. Culms zig-zag, green, diameter 1–2 cm, internode 10–15 cm long, solid or with a small lumen; nodes frequently producing roots when in contact with or near to the ground. Branch complement with one dominant branch surrounded by several smaller higher-order branches; dominant branch up to 3 m long or more. Culm-sheath 7.8–8.4 × 3–3.6 cm, caducous, purplish, auricles inconspicuous and glabrous; ligule entire, up to 1 mm high and glabrous; blades early caducous, purplish green, lanceolate, 5–6.5 × 0.5–1 cm, erect at first then deflexed. Leaves 15.1–25 × 2–4 cm, leaf-sheath auricles small, less than 1 mm high with bristles 0.5–0.7 mm long; ligule entire, less than 1 mm high and glabrous. Inflorescence not seen." — I. P. G. P. Damayanto, in Reinwardtia 17(1), 2018: p. 36 [#1273].

(3) "… Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms zigzag; 7–10 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; thick-walled, or solid; 10–20 cm long; antrorsely scabrous; distally hispid. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement several; with 1 branch dominant; as thick as stem. Culm-sheaths 7–9 cm long; purple; antrorsely scabrous; hispid; without auricles. Culm-sheath ligule entire. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; erect, or reflexed; 2–5 cm long; 5 mm wide; pubescent; attenuate. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 6–20 cm long; 15–50 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface smooth; glabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase [#1335].

Images: Photos in I. P. G. P. Damayanto, in Reinwardtia 17(1), 2018: p. 35-37, fig. 1 A-D (young shoot, young and old culm-leaves, leafy branches) [#1273].

Uses: Shoots edible.

Specimens: BS-0183 [S2] (living plants), Chiang Mai, Kham Thiang Market, cultivated, obtained 2004. BS-0183-1 [-] (living plants, all distributed) propagated from cuttings of BS-0183. BS-0066 [BBG] (living plants), Taiwan, from cultivated stock, received as "Schizostachyum diffusum", 22 Mar. 2012. BS-0304 [W4] (living plant), Rimba Ilmu Botanical Garden, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, cult. as "Dinochloa sp.", coll. by C. S., received Sep. 2009.

Characteristics (based on BS-0183): Habit of irregular shape, tight to loosely open clump. Rhizomes pachymorph. Culms usually erect below, not straight, often bending and zig-zag, not self-supporting, twining (both, clockwise and anti-clockwise), length over 15 m, may scramble over the ground if losing a supporting tree. Young shoots in varying tones of green, dark green, and purplish, sparsely covered with rough pale hairs; emerge in early July. Culm-internodes terete, purplish when young, dull dark green when mature, brownish green when old, scabrous (initially antrorsely scabrous), initially scattered with short pale hairs, becoming glabrous with age, (18) 21–28 (34) cm long, diameter to 2.0 cm at the basal part and 2.5 cm at 2 meters height, solid or nearly so on the basal culm, lacuna about half as wide as the internode diameter on the lower culm (lacuna 12 mm wide by an internode diameter of 2.3 cm at 1.3 m above the ground), with a small lacuna on the mid-culm (lacuna 1.0–1,5 mm wide by an internode diameter of 0.8–0.9 cm). Culm-nodes with a tall (1–2 cm) swelling dark brown corky girdle, scabrous, irregularly wrinkled, basally protruding; without thorns; without or with a few rudimentary aerial roots on lower culm-nodes; nodes of horizontally scrambling culms over the ground may root easily, develop rhizomes and new culm shoots. Branch buds solitary. Branches several or many, thin, 1–2 mm in diameter, rather short, not longer than 0.6 m, but one very thick branch may develop and continue twining as the main culm (mainly when the tip of the main culm is damaged, or when the main culm failed to get support or collapsed from a supporting tree, thus more or less growing diageotropically); branches on the lower part of the culms usually not present, buds remain dormant; branching intravaginal. Culm-leaves loosen from the sides, remain attached at the middle part of the sheath base, then drop. Culm-leaf sheaths about 6–7 cm wide at the base, 8–10 cm long, rigid, initially purplish to purplish green and scattered with stiff pale hairs, and occasionally with patches of white farina, soon the outer surface becomes dark brownish and glabrous when dry, or a few hairs that have changed to dark color may remain, particularly at the basal part of the sheath; margins smooth, ecilate; apex rounded, 1–1.3 cm wide. Culm-leaf auricles none, bristles none. Culm-leaf ligule inconspicuous, 0.5 mm high or shorter, entire, eciliate. Culm-leaf blade early caducous, papery, lanceolate, strongly reflexed, dark brownish when dry, about half as long as the sheath, 5–6 cm long, about 1 cm wide at the base, junction with the sheath about 3–4 mm wide; base rounded; apex long pointed; sheath of the lower part of the culm lacking blade (may be initially present and small, and fell off at a rather early stage). Foliage-leaves 6–10 per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths green when young, straw-colored when dry, densely scattered with very short and slightly rough white hairs, and may become glabrous or nearly so with age. Foliage-leaf auricles none, bristles none. Foliage-leaf ligule very short, entire. Foliage-leaf blades dark green on both surfaces, glabrous and shiny on both surfaces, broad-lanceolate, usually (4) 6–12 (18) × (1.5) 2–3 (4) cm, considerably larger in young plants; base rounded to acute (not attenuate); apex acuminate; margins antrorsely scabrous; midrib slightly prominent beneath, no cross veins; pseudopetiole short, 1 mm. Flowers and seeds unknown.

Uses: The species may be suitable as a feature plant for wild tropical landscape gardens, winding along tall trees. Young shoots are edible but not normally used as food.

Local distribution: Plants were offered for sale at Kham Thiang Market for only a few weeks in 2004, after that, this species had never been found again to be offered. Several plants, undoubtedly of the same species, grew up on pillars two or more storeys high of a house near the western moat of the old Chiang Mai city in the same year and thereafter. The plants were later removed, but a small remnant survived unintentionally as late as August 2009. It has not been possible to ascertain the origin of these Chiang Mai plants; there is no evidence that they were originally collected from the wild anywhere in Chiang Mai Province.

Cultivation requirements: Culms may grow taller than 10 meters under favorable conditions. Plants thrive well in shade or deep shade; young foliage leaves might get burned if exposed to the sun. Heavy soils containing a lot of moisture are in demand.