Gigantochloa albociliata
Gigantochloa albociliata (Munro) Kurz, Prelim. Rep. For. Veg. Pegu, App. B., 1875: 93; Forest Fl. Burma ii, 1877: 555.
Synonyms: Oxytenanthera albociliata Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26 (1), 1868: 129; Pseudoxytenanthera albociliata (Munro) T. Q. Nguyen, Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 76 (7), 1991: 993.
Thai names: ไผ่ไร่ (phai rai) (Central); ไฮ่ (hai) (Northern); ไผ่ซอด (phai sot) (Loei); บูโละมาตารูสะ (bu-lo-ma-ta-ru-sa) (Malay: Satun); ไผ่ตากวาง (phai ta kwang) (Satun, Surat Thani); ไม้คาย (mai khai) (Northeastern). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].
Myanmar name: Wa-hpyu-ka-le (Burmese).
Chinese name: 白毛巨竹 (bái máo jù zhú).
Distribution: THAILAND: throughout, except South, in evergreen forest, mixed deciduous forest, disturbed secondary forest, cleared forest, and wasteland, at 150–800 (1,350) m altitude, native, very common. — MYANMAR (North), native. — BANGLADESH (East). — INDIA (North-East, East). — LAOS. — VIETNAM. — CHINA (South): southern Yunnan. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: map 44 (for Pseudoxytenanthera albociliata) [#1342].
Culm size: Height 6–10 m, diameter 1.5–3 (5) cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "Culms densely tufted, erect with pendulous tip, up to 12 m tall, 3—5 cm in diameter; internodes 35—50 cm long, pale green to grayish green, glaucous and pale-pubescent; nodes not conspicuously swollen; walls about 0.8—1.2 cm thick at mid-culm portion, sometimes solid in the lower internode. Branches developing from upper nodes as a single branch extending upward, sometimes as big as the main culm. Culm leaves persistent, crustaceous, orange-green to yellow-green, 8.5—17 cm long by 9—15 cm wide, top truncate to slightly concave, back covered with dark-brown to black hairs, densely at bases; blades green, lanceolate, reflexed, 6.5—28 cm long by 2.5—7 cm wide near the base, covered with dark-brown to pale-brown hair on adaxial sides; auricles dark green, continuing from base of the culm-leaf blade, rim-like, glabrous, about 1—2 mm tall by 20—30 mm long; ligule irregularly dentate, 0.8—3 cm high. Leaves 9—13 per branchlet; blades green, lanceolate 15—22 cm long by 2.5—3 cm wide, lower surface slightly pubescent, tessellate, bases oblique-acute to oblique-attenuate, pseudo-petiole 3—5 mm long; leaf sheaths 6—8 cm long, covered with white to pale brown hispid when young, then glabrous; auricles inconspicuous; scale-like callus inconspicuous; ligules low rim-like, 1 mm high, margin irregularly dentate to sub-entire; secondary veins 8—9 pairs, intermediate veins 6—7. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — C. Rattamanee, Revis. Gigantochloa in Thailand, 2014: p. 58-63, fig. 14-16 [#1225].
(2) "A densely tufted bamboo. Culms 6-9 m high, 1.5-2.5 cm diameter, grayish-green with white stripes, hirsute above, nodes raised in a ring formed by the base of the sheath; internodes 15-38 cm long, walls moderately thick. Culm-sheaths 10-20 cm long and ca. 15 cm broad, covered with dense appressed hairs in the early stage, afterwards smooth, somewhat truncate, folded and coriaceous at the base, terminating at the truncate mouth in a narrow naked band; ligule 1.5-2.5 cm long, auricles small. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 15-20 cm long and 2-2.5 cm broad; petiole short, leaf sheath smooth. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 152 [#1062].
(3) "Densely tufted, sympodial, evergreen or deciduous bamboo. Culm elongate arcuate-decurved, (5–)10(–16) m tall, 2–7 cm in diameter, wall up to 1 cm thick, greyish-green with white stripes, hispid when young; internodes 15–60 cm long; nodes prominent. Branches arising at nodes especially in upper part, usually erect and almost solitary, nearly as strong as the culm. Culm sheath 10–20 cm × 15 cm, folded and coriaceous at the base, apex truncate and narrow, covered with dense, tawny, appressed hairs when young, becoming glabrous and smooth; blade lanceolate, 10–20 cm long, spreading, acuminate, membranous; ligule 1.5–2.5 cm long, truncate, toothed; auricles small, indistinct. Young shoot with reflexed blades and short, pointed apex. Leaf blade linear-lanceolate, 15–20 cm × 2–2.5 cm, base rounded, apex subulate-acuminate, glabrous, chartaceous, glaucescent beneath; sheath striate, smooth; ligule long, hairy; auricles indistinct … [flowers and seeds described]". — S. Duriyaprapan & P. C. M. Jansen in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 98-100, fig. [#1226].
(4) J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: p. 70 [#1230].
(5) H. B. Naithani & P. C. Pal, Notes on the Occurrence of Bamboo, Gigantochloa albociliata (Munro) Kurz, from Bastar, Chattisgarh, India, Indian Forester, 2006: p. 1591-1597 [#1319].
(6) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
Images: Line drawing in J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: pl. 61. Photo in Hawaiian Tropical Plants (habit); R. Pattanavibool in A. N. Rao & al. (eds.), 1998: fig. 8 (seeds) [#1211].
Uses: Shoots for food, delicious, widely marketed; culms for light construction, fences, furniture-making, farm tools, and tool handles.
Flowering and seeding: (1) The species flowered at Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in 1999. — (2) One plant, possibly the same species, was seen in flower at a low elevation on Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, in Jan. 2010. — (3) In the online seed trade, seeds were offered as "Gigantochloa albociliata" that did not belong to this species.
Flowering cycle: In Thailand, sporadic flowering occurs frequently; for gregarious flowering, a flowering cycle of 45–50 years is indicated [#1319], and 30 years in Assam, India [#1226].
Seed viability: Unknown.
Comments:
(1) The epithet "albociliata" alludes to the white ciliate spikelets.
(2) In Yunnan, China, Gigantochloa albociliata occurs naturally, as does Gigantochloa glabrata, and the latter species has been misidentified as G. albociliata; cf. Z. C. Xu & al., 2021: 37-45 [#1386].
Specimens: BS-0275 [N2] (living plants), Samoeng, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand (อ. สะเมิง จ. เชียงใหม่), wild, coll. C. S. #3004, 1 Dec. 2010; BS-0594 [-] (living plant), central Thailand, cult., received 12 Sep. 2009.
Gigantochloa albociliata (BS-0275), from left to right: (1) Habit of a plant at collection site; (2) upper part of a young shoot, showing dark brown hairy culm-leaf sheaths, a wide and low glabrous glossy green auricle, a tall ligule, and strongly reflexed blades; (3) branch complement, a single branch, almost as thick as the main axis, ascending from the node, subtended by several much smaller but unequal branches; (4) a branchlet, showing a cuneate base in all leaf blades — Photos (1) and (4) by courtesy of Dr. Cliff Sussman, La Verne, CA, USA, #3004, 12 Sep. 2009
Specimen: BS-0572 [BBG] (living plants), ต. หินดาด (Hin Dat Subdistrict) ["Hin Dad"], อ. ทองผาภูมิ (Thong Pha Phum District), Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, coll. C. S. #3076, received 5 June 2010.
Specimen: BS-0693 [-] (flowering branches, spikelets with seeds), Thailand, without precise locality, collected by ธ. ล., received as ไผ่ไร่ (phai rai), 14 Jan. 2012.
Comments: Since the seeds were not ripe enough to germinate, no attempt was made to use them to raise seedlings.
Gigantochloa albociliata (BS-0693): Flowering branches
Gigantochloa albociliata (BS-0693): Seeds
Specimen: CM-027 (culm-leaf), San Pa Tong, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand (อ. สันป่าตอง จ. เชียงใหม่), coll. D. O., 26 Aug. 2009.
Specimen: MH-023 (living plant), Mae Hia, Mueang, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand (ต. แม่เหียะ อ. เมือง จ. เชียงใหม่), cult.
Specimens: None.
Comments: (1) Seeds not received. — (2) The photo shows seeds of true Gigantochloa albociliata, collected in Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand.
Gigantochloa albociliata seeds, collected in Kanchanaburi, Mar. 1997 — Photo by R. Pattanavibool in A. N. Rao & al. (eds.), 1998: fig. 8 [#1211]
Specimen: BS-0924 [-] (living plant), Phou Khao Khouay National Park ຄເຂິາຄວາຍ ภูเขาควาย near Vientiane, Laos, on foothills, received from บ. ต. as "Bambusa sp.?", 1 Dec. 2017.
Characteristics: Rhizome pachymorph. Culm-internodes covered with whitish fuzz, becoming scabrous with age. Culm-nodes glabrous, with the nodal line slightly protruding, supranodal line distinct and with a slight ridge. Branches several or many, central one much dominant but often not developed, side branches slender, subequal; branching intravaginal; rebranching. Culm-leaves deciduous, very short. Culm-leaf sheath length 1/4 or 1/5 of the internode length, abaxial surface densely covered with brown to blackish hairs on the lower half of the sheath, the upper part of the sheath glabrous or nearly so. Culm-leaf auricles rim-like, eciliate, extending from the blade base towards the sheath margin by increasing their height and ending as erect long-ovate lobes, not reaching the sheath margin. Culm-leaf ligule very long, parabolic rounded, entire or subentire, eciliate. Culm-leaf blades lanceolate, longer than the sheath, strongly reflexed. Foliage-leaf sheath glabrous. Foliage-leaf auricles lacking or inconspicuous, without bristles. Foliage-leaf ligule long, entire. Foliage-leaf blades lanceolate, upper surface minutely pilose, lower surface bluish-green, puberulent. Flowers unknown.
Comments: When BS-0924 was received, it was suspected that this species might not be a Bambusa species but Gigantochloa albociliata. However, only 4 years later, when the plant had grown larger, the essential vegetative characteristics could be clearly recognized and assessed. I am grateful to 许祖昌 (pers. comm. 10 Jan. 2022), Kunming Institute of Botany, for confirming the identification of BS-0924 as Gigantochloa albociliata.
Gigantochloa albociliata 'Rai Dang' (ไร่ด่าง)
Thai name: ไผ่ไร่ด่าง (phai rai dang).
Distribution: THAILAND (in cultivation).
Culm size: Not recorded.
Images: Photo in NanaGarden (culm, branches, leaves) [#1129].
Characteristics: Foliage-leaf blades striped.
Uses: Plants as garden ornamentals.
Gigantochloa albociliata cl. striped leaves
Specimen: BS-0715 [SSG] (living plant), was raised in China from seeds, the plant was received from FMXG, China, as "15. 花叶白毛巨竹 (huā yè bái máo jù zhú) Gigantochloa albociliata (striped leaves)", 23 Nov. 2011, to be forwarded to SSG.
Characteristics: Foliage-leaf blades with cream stripes of different widths.
Comments: No statements can be made about further characteristics and species identification since the plant was forwarded to Khun Satha's garden (SSG, เวียงดอกไม้หอมเชียงใหม่), Doi Saket, approx. 930 m altitude.