Schizostachyum kerrianum

Synonym: Neohouzeaua kerriana S. Dransf., R. Pattanavibool & S. Sungkaew, Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 31, 2003: 28, as "Neohouzeoua"; type: Thailand: Chumphon, A. F. G. Kerr 12070 (holotype, K).

Thai names: ไผ่ราชวัง (phai rat chawang), ไผ่ลาดวัง (phai lat wang). — BKF [#1368].

Distribution: THAILAND (South): Provinces of Chumphon and Ranong; in primary or secondary, disturbed forest, on slopes or river banks, up to 1,000 m altitude), a common bamboo, grows abundantly near streams, possibly widespread.

Descriptions:

(1) "Sympodial bamboo. Culms straight and erect, tips arching almost to the ground or leaning on nearby vegetation, about 4(–8) m long, 1.1 cm in diam., with relatively thick walls, about 2 mm thick, internodes 20–25 cm long, covered with appressed pale hairs, the upper parts covered with dark brown hairs, becoming glabrous and smooth, the hollow internodes layered/lined with a white membrane (easily removed), girdle present. Branches several at each node, the same size, no dominant primary branch. Culm-leaves rigid, 8–12 by 4–5 cm, top horizontal or slightly curved in the middle, covered with light caducous brown hairs, becoming glabrous; blades lanceolate, tapering to long tips, spreading or deflexed, 12–15 cm long, 5–6 mm wide near the base, junction with sheath 4 mm wide, usually glabrous, pubescent near the base abaxially; auricles large, erect, 6 mm tall/wide, 21 mm long, glabrous, fringed with long bristles, bristles 12 mm long; ligule very short, minutely serrate. Leaf-blades 22–30 by 4–7 cm, glabrous, tapering to long tips, up to 7 cm long, base attenuate or slightly rounded, petiole 10–15 mm long; auricles large, thin or stramineous, glabrous, 10 by 4–5 mm, fringed with short curly hairs, hairs up to 5 mm long; sheaths glabrous; ligule very short, entire … [flowers described, seeds unknown] …". — S. Dransf. & al., Thai Forest Bull. (Bot.) 31, 2003: p. 28, as "Neohouzeoua kerriana" [#1061].

(2) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect, or arching, or leaning; inclined at the tip; 400–800 cm long; 11 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; with small lumen; 20–25 cm long; distally pilose. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement several; with subequal branches. Culm-sheaths deciduous but leaving a persistent girdle; 8–12 cm long; 2 length of internode; glabrous, or pilose; with tawny hairs; truncate at apex; auriculate; with 6 mm high auricles; with 21 mm wide auricles; setose on shoulders; shoulders with 12 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 1 mm high; dentate. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; spreading, or reflexed; 12–15 cm long; 5–6 mm wide. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs setose; curly; 3–5 mm long. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate; 10 mm long. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 1–1.5 cm long. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 22–30 cm long; 40–70 mm wide. Leaf-blade apex filiform. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase, as "Neohouzeaua kerriana", accessed 27 Nov. 2020 [#1335].

Images: Line drawing in S. Dransf. & al., l.c., 2003: p. 32 [#1061].

Uses: Not recorded.

Characteristics: Habit very tight caespitose, bushy. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms straight or bent below and above, reaching a height of about 4 m, widely arching, usually to the ground, or leaning on nearby vegetation, thus reaching a culm length of about 8 m or more. Young shoots bluish-green, hairy, emerge from April to August. Culm-internodes terete, straight or somewhat bent, 40–60 (80) cm long, light bluish-green, not farinose, proximally glabrous, initially covered with very short appressed rough pale hairs over the 1/2–3/4 of the upper internode length, becoming glabrous and smooth soon, the upper 1/4 remaining scabrous from initially rigid dark brown hairs below the nodes; diameter to 1.7 cm [ultimate diameter not yet known], not easily splitting when young; walls relatively thick, wall 1.5 mm thick by an internode diameter of 6 mm, with lacuna 3 mm full of soft white pith, thus appearing solid, the pith moist and not easily removable in young internodes, but dry, soft, cotton-like, and easily removable in dried culms [walls in thicker culms not yet observed]. Culm-nodes glabrous, smooth, slightly prominent; sheath scar (girdle) brown corky, blackish when old, prominent, 2 mm high and 1.5 mm protruding the node; nodal ridge discernible; with a broad non-farinose light bluish-green ring below the nodes, scattered with short stiff rigid dark brown to blackish hairs when young; aerial roots none. Branch-bud solitary, present from the lowest nodes up. Branches 3–5 (6), unequal, 2–4 thick and subdominant, the remaining slender, occasionally a single, much dominant branch develops strongly negative-phototropic, almost as thick as the main culm; unbranched on the basal and lower culms; branching intravaginal. Culm-leaves on the basal and lower unbranched culm persistent, not removable from the internode when young, decaying on the culm; culm-leaves on the mid-culm and upper branched culm deciduous or loosely attached to the node. Culm-leaf sheaths 8 cm wide at the base, 10–13 cm long, rigid, light green, but more or less gradually changing into blackish near the apex when young, light straw-colored when dry, the mid and lower part scattered with appressed, irritating dark brown hairs, densely hirsute at the sheath base, not farinose; margins eciliate, outer margin incurved; apex truncate, horizontal, or slightly concavely rounded, 2.5–4 cm wide. Culm-leaf auricles large, erect, oval to obtusely triangle-shaped, or sickle-shaped, 15–20 mm broad at the basal junction with the sheath, 9–15 mm high, persistent, brown when young; margin of auricles persistent long-bristly; bristles to 15 mm long, brown, straight below and waved above when young, pale and waved throughout when old. Culm-leaf ligule very short, less than 1 mm high, inconspicuous. Culm-leaf blades rigid, strongly reflexed, linear-lanceolate, 11–13 mm wide near the base, as long as a sheath on the mid-culm, slightly shorter on the lower culm, deep green when young, light straw-colored when dry; junction with the sheath 5 mm wide, adaxially thickly pale hairy near the junction; margins eciliate, incurved. Foliage-leaves 7–9 (12) per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths green, glabrous, smooth, margins eciliate. Foliage-leaf auricles large, erect, obtusely long-triangular, stramineous, 12–15 mm long, persistent; margins with long pale waved persistent bristles. Foliage-leaf ligule very short, inconspicuous. Foliage-leaf blades rigid, 25–40 (50) × 6–7 (11) cm, lanceolate to broad-lanceolate, glabrous, and dark green on both surfaces; base asymmetric, rounded to wedge-shaped; apex attenuate; margin antrorsely scaberulous on one side, smooth on the other side; midrib proximally prominent on both surfaces, light green beneath; pseudopetiole 5–15 mm long.

Comments: The characteristics of BS-0088 largely match the description of Schizostachyum kerrianum, syn. Neohouzeaua kerriana. However, one feature, the internode length, is perplexing. It was described as "20–25 cm long", which does not fit with the observation of BS-0088. Only the first or first two basal internodes in a culm are as short as up to 25 cm, all upper internodes are much longer, rarely less than 55 cm. Even the internodes of branches are long, e.g., the first internode is 3 cm, the second is 36 cm, and the third is 60 cm long.