Gigantochloa albovestita

Synonym: Gigantochloa scortechinii var. albovestita Holttum, Gard. Bull. Singapore, 16, 1958: 124.

Thai name: no known records.

Malay name: Buloh seremai.

Distribution:

THAILAND (South): Krabi Province. — MALAYSIA (Peninsular): northern part: Kedah, Penang; on mountain slopes in evergreen forest at 1,200–1,300 m altitude.

Descriptions:

(1) "Culm sheaths pale green, covered with shiny pale silvery appressed hairs; blade broadly lanceolate, less than a third the length of the sheath, reflexed; auricles small raised rims 1.5–2 mm high, glabrous; ligule 4–7 mm high, the base 2.5–3 mm high, with pale bristles 2–4 mm long. Culms to 12 m tall, commonly 1.5–2 cm diameter; internodes 35–45 cm long, dark green, not white-waxy, with scattered pale silvery appressed hairs at the upper half of the internode. Leaf: blades 12–32 cm long, 2.5–4.5 cm wide, pale soft hairy on the lower side; stalk 3–4 mm long; auricles small lobes or ridges to 0.5 mm high, glabrous; ligule a rim 1–1.5 mm high with bristles 0.5–1.5 mm long." — K. M. Wong, Bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia, 1995: p. 125-126 [#1210].

(2) "Culms loosely tufted, slender and erect, up to 12 m tall, 3.5—4 cm in diameter; internodes to 50 cm long, dark green, with scattered pale silvery appressed hairs at the upper half of the internodes when young; nodes not conspicuously swollen, but marked by the crustaceous, persistent bases of the fallen sheaths, and the white sericeous band above and below the nodes; walls thin, about 0.5 cm thick at mid-culm portion. Branches developing from around mid-culm upwards; mid-culm branch complements with one dominant and several subdominant branches at each node arising from a single bud. Culm leaves deciduous, coriaceous-crustaceous, yellow-green, 16—22 cm long by 6—8 cm wide, top truncate to slightly concave, back covered with appressed pale silvery to golden brown hairs; blades green, lanceolate, spreading to reflexed, 16—21 cm long by 1.5—2.5 cm wide near the base, sometimes covered with pale brown hair on adaxial base; auricles low rim-like, 0.5—2 mm tall by 10—23 mm long, glabrous; ligule 1—2 mm high with long white bristles up to 12 mm high. Leaves 6—9 per branchlet; blades 8—23 cm long by 1.7—3.3 cm wide, pale soft hairy on the lower surface, bases acute to oblique-attenuate, pseudo-petiole 2—3 mm long; leaf sheaths 4—8 cm long, covered with appressed or setose pale-brown to golden brown hair on the upper part; auricles small lobes to 2 mm long, margins fringed with pale-brown bristles up to 13 mm long; scale-like callus very small, one side broadly triangular 0.5—1 mm, another one not obvious, margin with minuscule spines; ligule a low rim 1 mm high, margin irregularly serrulate with several bristles at the edges 1—2 mm long; secondary veins 6—8 pairs, intermediate veins 5—8." — C. Rattamanee, Revis. Gigantochloa in Thailand, 2014: p. 64-67, fig. 17-18 [#1225].

(3) "… Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 1200 cm long; 15–20 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; 35–45 cm long; dark green; distally pubescent. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement several. Culm-sheaths green; pilose; with appressed hairs; with white hairs; auriculate; with 1.5–2 mm high auricles; ciliate on shoulders; shoulders with 2–4 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 4–7 mm high. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; deciduous; reflexed. Leaf-sheath oral hairs lacking. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 1–1.5 mm long. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.3–0.4 cm long. Leaf-blades oblong; 12–32 cm long; 25–45 mm wide; chartaceous. Leaf-blade surface pubescent; hairy abaxially. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. …" — Kew GrassBase [#1335].

Comments: Flowers and seeds unknown.