Gigantochloa sp. (TH: Phetchabun) 2

Specimen: BS-0043 [BBG] (living plant), Petchabun Province, without precise locality, wild, received from ธ. ล. as "walking stick bamboo, ไผ่เปร็งหิน (phai preng hin)", 5 Sep. 2011.

Characteristics: Culm-internodes solid (possibly throughout), or with a very small lacuna. Branches few to several, the central one notably dominant. Culm-leaves deciduous. Culm-leaf sheaths brown hairy. Culm-leaf auricles very low rims from the blade base towards the sheath margins, extending into erect, rather high ovate lobes, the margin of the rim occasionally with a few short, early caducous pale bristles. Culm-leaf ligule rather high, margin cleft, occasionally with a few short, early caducous pale bristles. Culm-leaf blades reflexed. Foliage-leaf blades of medium size.

Uses: Culms for making walking sticks and tools.

Cultivation requirements: Easy-growing; possibly prefers part shade, grows well on clay loam, normal moisture-retentive to moist with good drainage.

Provisional identification: The culm-leaf morphology suggests Gigantochloa, although culms and the general habit look more like Bambusa.

Comments: In the same province, there is another species of "walking stick bamboo" known, called ไผ่เปร็ง (phai preng), which could be a species of Thyrsostachys.