Gigantochloa stocksii
Gigantochloa stocksii (Munro) T. Q. Nguyen, Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 75 (2), 1990: 224.
Synonyms: Oxytenanthera stocksii Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26 (1), 1868: 130; Pseudotenanthera stocksii (Munro) R. B. Majumdar in S. Karthikeyan & al., Fl. Ind. Enumerat., Monocot., 1989: 280; Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii (Munro) T. Q. Nguyen, Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 76 (7), 1991: 993; Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii (Munro) H. B. Naithani, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 87 (3), 1991: 440; Dendrocalamus stocksii (Munro) M. Kumar, Remesh & Unnikr., Sida 21 (1), 2004: 95.
Thai name: No known records.
Indian names: Marihal Bamboo, Seemae Bamboo.
English name: No known records.
Distribution: THAILAND (North-East): Nakhon Phanom Province (Classification of Bamboo, 2012 [#1223]); on moist sites. — INDIA (South): Western Ghats, native, on banks of streams; also widely and frequently cultivated in peninsular India (from humid tropical to semi-arid areas, in various soil types). — VIETNAM (South).
Description: "Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms 600–900 cm long; 25–40 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; solid; 15–30 cm long; grey; distally glabrous, or pubescent. Lateral branches dendroid. Culm-sheaths 15–22 cm long; 1.3–2 times as long as wide; pubescent; with appressed hairs; with red hairs; hairy on margins; concave at apex; auriculate; setose on shoulders. Culm-sheath ligule 7 mm high; fimbriate. Culm-sheath blade linear; acuminate. Leaf-sheaths striately veined; glabrous on surface, or pubescent. Ligule an eciliate membrane; erose. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.2 cm long. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 10–20 cm long; 10–20 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with 10–12 secondary veins. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Leaf-blade apex attenuate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase, as "Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii" [#1335].
Images: Photo (habit) in D. Annapurna & al., 2015: p. 2 (fig. 1), as "Dendrocalamus stocksii" [#1355].
Flowering and seeding: Sporadic flowering in India without seed production has been reported (the first in the 1880s), but no gregarious flowering event is known.
Uses: In India, culms are used for making furniture, light construction, baskets, umbrella handles, and poles for crops.
Comments:
(1) The species is described as having fused filaments and no lodicules; hence, its placement in the genus Gigantochloa is accepted. However, the vegetative characteristics of this species are very similar to those of Dendrocalamus strictus.
(2) Botanists from India believe that the species, Dendrocalamus stocksii, is endemic to the Western Ghats. If so, this means that the plants recorded from Thailand (and Vietnam) have been introduced, and are not indigenous, or represent another species. Unfortunately, no specimens have been received or seen from Thailand, and no description is known, so the species identity of the Thai plants remains unsolved. — D. Annapurna & al., 2015: 1-8 [#1355].