Gigantochloa nigrociliata

Synonyms: Bambusa nigrociliata Buse in Miquel, Pl. Jungh., 3, 1854: 389; Oxytenanthera nigrociliata (Buse) Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26 (1), 1868: 128; Pseudoxytenanthera nigro­ciliata (Buse) T. Q. Nguyen, Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 76 (7), 1991: 993; Bambusa andamanica Kurz, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist., 39 (2), 1870: 88; Gigantochloa andamanica (Kurz) Kurz, Prelim. Rep. For. Veg. Pegu, App. B., 1875: 93; Forest Fl. Burma ii, 1877: 556; Schizostachyum serpentinum Kurz, Indian Forester, 1, 1876: 351.

Thai names: ไผ่ไล่ลอ (phai lai lo) (Central); ไฮ่ลอ (hai lo) (Northern); ไผ่ไร่ลอ (phai rai lo); ไผ่ฟาก (phai fak) (Songkhla); ไผ่ผาก (phai phak) [in err.?]. — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].

Indonesian names: bambu lengka, bambu tabah. Sundanese name: awi lengka. Balinese name: tiying tabah. Awi ular (West Java: Banten).

Chinese name: 黑毛巨竹 (hei mao ju zhu).

Distribution: THAILAND (South, West, North): wild or cultivated, perhaps introduced. — INDONESIA: wild, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands. — MALAYSIA: no records available, possibly cultivated. — MYANMAR; BANGLADESH; INDIA (Andaman Islands, North-East): This may refer to a presumably different species, Gigantochloa andamanica, syn. Bambusa andamanica. — LAOS: possibly planted. — CHINA (South): Yunnan: Xishuangbanna, and Hong Kong, planted.

Descriptions:

(1) "Clump somewhat loosely tufted, the centre hardly raised from the ground, conspicuously clean and bright green. Young shoots greyish green with appressed dark brown and … white hairs so that it looks grey. Culms up to 20 m tall, 3 — 6 cm in diameter, walls thin and only up to 6 mm thick at the basal internode ; the longest internodes up to 35 cm (but may be up to 50 cm according Backer), bright green with dark brown hairs on the upper part of the internodes. Culm sheaths slightly persistent, with brown appressed hairs on the backs of the culm sheaths, 11 — 18,5 cm long, triangular with raised rounded auricles and ending in curved sheath extensions, 2 — 4 mm high ; ligules 2 — 3 mm high, irregularly dentate ; blades triangular with broad base and acute apex, 6 — 10 cm long by 2 — 3.5 cm wide, erect to spreading. Leaf blades lanceolate, 19.5 — 35 cm by 2.5 — 4.5 cm, glabrous above, hairy beneath, on short pseudopetiole 3 — 6 mm long ; auricles rim-like along the leaf sheath up to 1 mm high, at the apex curved and joined to ligulus ; ligules 1 — 2 mm high, ciliate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — E. A. Widjaja, Revis. Malesian Gigantochloa, 1987: p. 327-330, fig. 13-14 [#1224].

(2) "Loosely tufted, sympodial bamboo. Culm up to 20 m tall, 3–6 cm in diameter, wall up to 6 mm thick, conspicuously clean and bright green; nodes not swollen; internodes up to 35(–50) cm long, bright green with dark brown hairs on upper parts. Branches arising from all nodes from 2–3 m upwards with usually one dominant branch at each node. Culm sheath triangular but with truncate apex, 11–18.5 cm long, slightly persistent, brown appressed hairy outside; blade narrowly triangular, 6–10 cm × 2–3.5 cm, erect to spreading, brown hairy at the base inside; ligule 2–3 mm long, irregularly dentate; auricles rounded, 2–4 mm long, ending in curved sheath extensions. Young shoots grey-green, bearing appressed dark brown and white hairs. Leaf blade lanceolate, 19.5–35 cm × 2.5–4.5 cm, glabrous above, hairy beneath; ligule 1–2 mm long, ciliate; auricles rim-like along the leaf sheath, up to 1 mm long, at the apex curved and joined to the ligule. … [flowers and seeds described]." — E. A. Widjaja in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 114-116, fig. [#1226].

(3) "Culms densely tufted, straight and erect, 8—10 m tall, 3—6 cm in diameter; internodes 30—55 cm long, green to grayish green, occasionally glaucous, scattered with black to dark-brown hair, white sericeus ring above and below nodes; nodes inconspicuously swollen; walls relatively thin, 0.5—1 cm thick at mid-culm portion. Branches developing from upper nodes only; mid-culm branch complements with several branches at each node arising from a single bud, the primary one dominant, 1—2 subdominant branches from its base and often several lesser branches. Culm leaves persistent, coriaceous, dark-green to yellow-green, 18—28 cm long by 10—26 cm wide, top oblique-acute to convex, sometimes truncate or concave, back covered with appressed black hairs; blades green, lanceolate to narrowly triangular, erect, 10—27 cm long by 3—6.5 cm wide, margin brown ciliate near the base, covered with dark brown hair on adaxial sides in the middle near the base; auricles dark green, continuing from base of the culm-leaf blade, rim-like, raised at the end about 2—3 mm tall by 15—25 mm long, glabrous; ligule lacerate to denticulate ending to pale fine bristles, 2—5 mm high. Leaves 6—11 per branchlet; blades 13.8—45 cm long by 1.8—6.3 cm wide, both surfaces scabrous, tessellate, bases acute or cuneate to attenuate, pseudo-petiole 2—10 mm long; leaf sheaths 7.5—12.5 cm long, covered with appressed dark-brown hair or become glabrous, margin pale-brown ciliate; auricles low-rim, inconspicuous, occasionally lobe-like up to 2 mm long; scale-like callus present, one side triangular, glabrous, up to 4 mm long by 3 mm wide, another side low-rim 1 mm long by 3 mm wide, glabrous; ligule acute with irregularly cleft 5—10 mm long, papyraceous at the end, occasionally low irregularly dentate; secondary veins 5—18 pairs, intermediate veins 5—8. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — C. Rattamanee, Revis. Gigantochloa in Thailand, 2014: p. 102-107, fig. 35-37 [#1225].

(4) Kew GrassBase [#1335].

(5) Flora of China [#1303].

(6) E. A. Widjaja, Spect. Indones. Bamboos, 2019: p. 90-93 [#1279].

Images: Photos in E. A. Widjaja, l.c., 2019 (habit, young shoots).

Uses: Shoots for food (primary usage); culms for short-lived constructions (fences, huts), farm tools, basketry; plants as ornamentals.

Comments:

(1) Presumably, Gigantochloa nigrociliata and Gigantochloa andamanica are different species. Furthermore, some plants from Thailand identified as Gigantochloa nigrociliata may turn out to be Gigantochloa andamanica; cf. Gigantochloa sp. (TH: Krabi: Ko Lanta Yai). — P. Kumari & R. Lakra, 2019: 81-86 [#1360].

(2) A distinctive vegetative feature of Gigantochloa nigrociliata is the curved, horn-like extension of the culm-leaf auricle.

(3) Gigantochloa nigrociliata might have been introduced from Indonesia into Thailand in early times.

(4) A bamboo named ไผ่ไล่ลอ (phai lai lo) from western Thailand [Kanchanaburi] was identified as Gigantochloa nigrociliata but probably represents a different species of Gigantochloa (S. Dransfield, 1994: p. 2 [#1229]; Kew Herbarium [#1333]).

(5) Another bamboo, Thai name "phai-phak", from Kanchanaburi was recorded under the name Gigantochloa nigrociliata to grow wild on Khao Salop [a mountain in Erawan National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเอราวัณ), formerly called Khao Salop National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาสลอบ)], at 400 m altitude. Its description of vegetative parts seems to match quite well with Gigantochloa nigrociliata, except for the height of the culm-leaf ligule which was described as "0.4~1.0 cm" (whereas 2–3 (5) mm in Gigantochloa nigrociliata) (W. C. Lin, Bamboos of Thailand, 1968: 41-43, fig. 28-29 [#1102]). The ligule size might be in error, as no conspicuous ligule can be perceived in the accompanying line drawing.

(6) There is an immature bamboo labeled as Gigantochloa nigrociliata grown in cultivation at the Royal Project, Huai Hong Khrai (ห้วยฮ่องไคร้) Study Center, A. Doi Saket, Chiang Mai Province. This identification could not be confirmed.

(7) The epithet "nigrociliata" alludes to the black ciliate spikelets, not to the black indument of the abaxial surface of the culm-leaves.

Specimen: BS-0553 [C8-R04] (living plant); อ. สะบ้าย้อย, Saba Yoi District, Songkhla, southern Thailand, coll. C. S. #3055, as "Gigantochloa sp.", 31 May 2010.