Gigantochloa manggong

Thai name: ไผ่ผากมัน (phai phak man) (South: Surat Thani).

Indonesian name: bambu manggong. Javanese name: pring manggong. Balinese name: tiying jahe, translated "ginger bamboo", named for its yellowish leaf sheaths and petioles.

English names: Manggong Bamboo, Ginger Bamboo.

Distribution: Origin unknown. — THAILAND (South): Provinces of Chumphon, Ranong, and Surat Thani; in secondary disturbed forest, 100 m altitude. — INDONESIA: East Java, wild, rare, 50 m altitude; Bali, wild, rare, 1,500 m altitude. — Perhaps also from MYANMAR: Mon State: Kyaikkami [formerly named Amherst], for specimen "Parkinson 5101" (E. A. Widjaja, Revis. Malesian Gigantochloa, 1987: p. 368 [#1224]).

Descriptions:

(1) "Clumps densely tufted, the centre only slightly raised from the ground, with green to yellowish culms bearing slightly persistent culm sheaths. Culms up to 15 m tall 5 — 7 cm diameter, the wall up to 10 mm thick at the middle ot the culms, the longest internode 31 — 35 cm long, smooth, green but afterwards yellowish. Culm sheaths appressed, dull yellow, 30 — 33 cm long, trapezoid with the apex almost truncate but slightly raised in the middle at the attachment of the sheath blades, covered with appressed dark brown hairs, the hairs fall off when older so that the culm sheaths become glabrous ; auricles a firm rim which is raised towards the end, jointed at the blades, up to 4 mm high, dark brown to purplish brown, without bristles ; ligules 5 mm high, irregularly dentate ; blades erect, narrowly triangular, 18 — 25 cm by 9 — 11 cm wide, deciduous when old, sheath blade junctions inconspicuous. Leaf blades lanceolate, 27 — 29 cm long, by 3 — 4 cm wide, glabrous, thick, pseudopetiole yellowish, 3 — 4 mm long ; leaf sheaths yellowish with purplish margin, when young covered with detaching dark brown hairs and becoming glabrous afterwards ; auricles rounded, raised, and joined to ligules at the end, small, up to 1 mm high, purplish ; ligules irregularly toothed, 1 mm high. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — E. A. Widjaja, Revis. Malesian Gigantochloa, 1987: p. 365-368, fig. 32-33 [#1224].

(2) "Densely tufted, sympodial bamboo. Culm up to 15 m tall, 5–7 cm in diameter, wall up to 10 mm thick; internodes up to 34–40 cm long, smooth, green turning yellowish. Branches arising from nearly all nodes from 2–3 m upwards; usually one branch is dominant in each group of branches. Culm sheath appressed with truncate but centrally slightly raised apex, 30–33 cm long, dull yellow, dark brown glabrescent, slightly persistent; blade erect, narrowly triangular, 28–25 cm × 9–11 cm, covered with dark brown hairs adaxially, deciduous at age; ligule 5 mm long, forming a firm rim which is raised towards the end and joined to the blades, dark brown to purplish brown, without bristles. Leaf blade lanceolate, 27–29 cm × 3–4 cm, glabrous, thick; sheath yellowish with purple margins, when young covered with detaching dark brown hairs, glabrescent; ligule 1 mm long, irregularly toothed; auricles rounded, up to 1 mm long, raised, joined to ligule at the end, purplish. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — Sutiyono & E. A. Widjaja in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 113-114, fig. [#1226].

(3) "Culms densely tufted, straight and erect, up to 15 m tall, 5—8 cm in diameter; internodes to 50 cm long, plain green, non-waxy, covered with appressed brown hair particularly at the top; nodes not conspicuously swollen, covered with white sericeous ring above nodes only half side opposite to the culm leaves, covered with brown-hair-ring below nodes; walls relatively thin, up to 1 cm thick at mid-culm portion. Branches developing only at the upper part of the culms, the primary one dominant, 1—2 subdominant branches from its base. Culm leaves deciduous, coriaceous, pale-green, trapezoid, 19—28 cm long by 16—32 cm wide, top slightly convex, back covered with appressed brown (upper part) to pale-brown (lower part) hairs; blades slightly decurrent yellow-green, narrowly triangular, erect, 16—28 cm long by 4—10 cm wide near the base, abaxial covered with dark brown hair and adaxial with golden brown hair; auricles dark green, rim-like, raised from the end of the sheath continuing to base of the culm-leaf blade, about 2—3 mm tall by 10—15 mm long, margins glabrous; ligule irregularly dentate, 2—5 mm high, margin denticulate with readily deciduous golden-brown bristles 2—3 mm. Leaves 10—17 per branchlet; blades 16.5—44 cm long by 3—6.8 cm wide, lower surface scabrous, tessellate, bases acute or shortly-attenuate to oblique-attenuate, occasionally rounded, pseudo-petiole 2—7 mm long; leaf sheaths 3—12 cm long, covered with white sericeous and appressed dark brown hispid hair when young then become glabrous afterwards; auricles small rounded glabrous lobes to 1 mm long, margins glabrous; scale-like callus present, one crescent, 1 mm by 3 mm, and another one broadly-triangular, 2 mm by 3 mm, fringed with minuscule spines when young then become glabrous; ligule a low glabrous rim 1 mm high, margin irregularly dentate to sub-entire; secondary veins 8—12 pairs, intermediate veins 5—7. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — C. Rattamanee, Revis. Gigantochloa in Thailand, 2014: p. 97-101, fig. 33-34 [#1225].

Images: Line drawings in E. A. Widjaja, l.c., 1987: fig. 32 (p. 366) (vegetative parts) [#1224]. Photos of isotype (K) in C. Rattamanee, l.c., 2014: fig. 33 [#1225]. Photos of living plants in C. Rattamanee, l. c., 2014: fig. 34 [#1225]. Photos in E. A. Widjaja, Spect. Indones. Bamboos, 2019: p. 88-89 (habit, culms, culm-leaves) [#1279].

Uses: Shoots edible but of a bitter taste. Culms for minor building construction and scaffolding, for paper pulp, chopsticks, and toothpicks.

Comments: The species can be recognized by its large erect narrow-triangular culm-leaf blades, and yellowish foliage-leaf sheaths and petioles.