Bambusa gibba
Bambusa gibba McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. No. 9, 1940: 10.
Thai name: ไผ่กิบบา (phai kipba).
Chinese name: 坭竹 (ni zhu).
Distribution: THAILAND: introduced, in cultivation, rare. — CHINA (South, East): Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian, Jiangxi; on low hills, around villages. — VIETNAM (North).
Description: "Culms 7–10 m, 3.5–6 cm in diam., basally flexuose, apically suberect; internodes 30–40 cm, inflated near base, initially white powdery, basal internodes initially sparsely stiffly gray-white or brown strigose; wall 3–5 mm thick; nodes glabrous; branching to base. Branches usually 3 at lower nodes with branchlets sometimes specialized into weak thorns; several on middle and upper nodes, 3 central branches dominant. Culm sheaths deciduous, ribbed-striate when dry, glabrous, apex obliquely truncate, with a triangular protuberance on higher shoulder; auricles obviously unequal, sometimes weak; larger auricle ovate-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 5–6 mm; smaller auricle ovate or elliptic, 2–3 mm; oral setae slender, undulate; ligule arched, 2–3 mm, finely dentate and fimbriate; blade deciduous, erect, narrowly triangular, base not narrowed, nearly 2/3 as wide as sheath apex. Leaf blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 8.5–14.5 × 0.8–1.3 cm, abaxially densely pubescent, adaxially glabrous. … [flowers described] … Fruit unknown." — Flora of China [#1303].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]. Photos in BambooWeb.info [#1340].
Bambusa gibba (BS-0260), from left to right: Habit, young shoot, young culm with a culm-leaf, culm-leaf auricle
Specimen: BS-0260 [-] (living plant), received from cultivated stock from the USA, Sep. 2009.
Characteristics: Habit a tight clump. Culms straight, up to 12 m tall. Culm-internodes covered with white wax when young, becoming dark green, 35–45 (50) cm long, 3–4.5 cm in diameter, thick-walled, walls up to 1 cm. Branches rather long, from the basal culm up; nodes of the branches often with soft thorns. Culm-leaf sheath without irritating hairs. Foliage-leaf blades small, dark green.
Uses: Young shoots tasteful, used for food. Culms for oil extraction, scaffolding, and making farm and fishing appliances. Plants for medium-sized to tall hedges, natural fences, and screening.
Cultivation requirements: Easy and fast-growing; in part shade to full sun, best on 5.5–6.5 pH soils, sandy loam to clay loam, normal moisture-retentive to moist with good drainage.