Melocanna baccifera
Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz, Prelim. Rep. For. Veg. Pegu, App. B., 1875: 94.
Synonyms: Bambusa baccifera Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3 (2), 1815: 37; Melocanna bambusoides Trin., Neue Entdeck. Pflanzenk. 2, 1821: 43.
Thai name: No known records.
Indonesian name: bambu muli.
English names: Muli Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND, introduced, cultivated; assumed to occur wild or naturalized in the provinces of Mae Hong Son, Tak, and Kanchanaburi (Classification of Bamboo, 2012 [#1223]). — MYANMAR. — BANGLADESH. — INDIA (North-East); (East): West Bengal; (North): Sikkim; (South): Karnataka, Maharashtra. In plains, on low hills, in clearings and disturbed forests. — NEPAL. — BHUTAN. — CHINA, introduced. — INDONESIA: Sumatra, Java, introduced. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: map 37 [#1342].
Culm size: Height 10–20 (22) m, diameter 5–7 (9) cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "Evergreen bamboo, clump diffuse. Culms 10-20 m high, 3-7 cm diameter, green when young, straw coloured when old; longest internodes 20-25 cm long. Culm-sheaths 10-15 cm long, yellowish green when young and yellowish brown on maturity, brittle, striate, truncate or concave at the tip, glabrous or sparsely with whitish appressed hairs on the back. Ligule very short with undulated or toothed margin, auricles small, sub-equal, membranous, fringed with silvery bristles; blade deciduous, usually 15-30 cm long, 2-3 cm broad, subulate. Young shoots smooth, light purple or purplish green; ligule with long hairs, soon caducous, blades linear, green. Leaves 15-30 cm long, 2.5-5 cm broad, oblong lanceolate, apex acuminate, leaf sheath thick, ligulate; auricles very small with silvery bristles. …" — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 169 [#1062].
(2) M. K. Alam in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 126-129, fig. [#1226].
(3) K. M. Wong, Bamboos of Peninsular Malaysia, 1995: p. 156 [#1210].
(4) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
Melocanna baccifera, syn. Melocanna bambusoides, in cultivation at Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), grown from seeds received from Tripura, India — Photo by Seetha Lakshmi on Facebook, 26 Sep. 2019
Images: Line drawing in Flora of Taiwan [#1106]. Line drawing, fig. 54, and photos, p. 170 (habit, internode, culm sheath), in K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998 [#1062]. Photos in AsianFlora (culms, culm sheaths, leaves) [#1332]; BambooCraft.net (seed, seedling) [#1341]; K. M. Wong, Bamboo - The Amazing Grass, 2004: fig. 23 (habit), fig. 52 (culm sheath) [#1048]; Ratan Lal Banik in A. N. Rao & al. (eds.), 1998: fig. 2 (fruit) [#1211]; A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 34 fig. A-D (habit, young culm and culm-leaf, leafy flowering branches, flowers) [#1260].
Characteristics: Rhizome pachymorph, long-necked. Young shoots emerge late, from July to September. Culm-internodes with a white waxy ring below the nodes.
Uses: Shoots edible; culms used for making huts, furniture, handicrafts, basketry, farm and household appliances, musical instruments, ply bamboo (bamboo plywood). — H. Lalhruaitluanga & M. N. V. Prasad, 2009: 1-6 [#1364].
Cultivation requirements: Grows well on different types of soil, e.g., moist sandy clay loam, well-drained residual sandy soil, or almost poor sand. "… an aggressive bamboo, easily occupying large open areas, due to its long vigorous long rhizomes …" [#1226].
Flowering and fruiting: K. C. Koshy & al., 2022 [#1375].
Flowering cycle: 30–45 years [#1226]; 40–45 years [#1302]; 7–10, 26–50 years [#1320].
Seed weight: ≈10–20 seeds/kg → 1 seed (diameter 5–8 cm) ≈ 50–100 g [#1302].
Seed viability: Short, viability lasts for a few weeks, up to 2 months.
Comments:
(1) Flowers and seeds are known. Fruits are the size and shape of pears and are edible.
(2) Living plants introduced from China into Thailand under the name Melocanna baccifera (BS-0007) in July 2011 turned out to be a species of Schizostachyum, possibly Schizostachyum funghomii.
(3) Seeds were offered by FMXG, Yunnan, as "Melocanna baccifera, 梨竹 (lí zhú)", collected Apr./May 2013, but were not received. Seed weight of one seed ≈ 65 g.
Melocanna baccifera: Flowering and fruiting plants — by courtesy of Lihua Jiang, Yunnan Bamboo, China
Melocanna baccifera: Flowering and fruiting plants — by courtesy of Lihua Jiang, Yunnan Bamboo, China
Specimen: BT0000-01 (living plant) [E1-R10, BBG], raised from seeds from the Arakan Mountains of Chin State, Myanmar, coll. by Tin Htun Ni, 2019, s.n., seeds received, via จ. ม., at Boonthammee Bamboo Garden, 14 Aug. 2019.
Seed weight: The weight of four seeds was determined, including the heaviest seed: 30.2 g, 47.7 g, 48.6 g, 90.8 g.
Seed viability: Unknown, it is believed that, under normal atmospheric conditions, the lifespan of the seeds is only a few weeks.
Seed germination: Germination was initiated during the transport from Myanmar to Thailand.
References: Thammarat Boonthammee, on Facebook, 16 Aug. 2019, and pers. comm., 19 June – 21 July 2020.
Melocanna baccifera (BT0000-01): Germinating seeds (left), the weight of one of the seeds (right) — by courtesy of คุณธรรมรัตน์ บุญธรรมมี Thammarat Boonthammee, สวนไผ่บุญธรรมมี Boonthammee Bamboo Garden