Bambusa jaintiana
Bambusa jaintiana R. B. Majumdar in S. Karthikeyan & al., Fl. Ind. Enumerat., Monocot., 1989: 274.
Synonym: Bambusa alamii Stapleton, Edinburgh J. Bot. 51 (1), 1994: 10.
Thai name: No known records.
Nepali name: mugi bans.
Distribution: Origin unknown, perhaps introduced into the Himalayan area from China or north-eastern India in early times. — THAILAND: introduced from Nepal, in cultivation. — INDIA (North and North-East). — NEPAL, eastern Terai (plain, low altitude landscape), commonly cultivated. — BANGLADESH, widely cultivated. — MYANMAR.
Descriptions:
(1) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 800-1200 cm long; 20-35 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; thin-walled; 40 cm long; distally mealy, or glabrous. Culm-nodes flush with internodes. Lateral branches dendroid. Buds or branches present on lower quarter of culm. Branch complement several. Culm-sheaths persistent; 14 cm long; 1 times as long as wide; glabrous; auriculate; with unequal auricles; with 10-20 mm wide auricles, or 20-50 mm wide auricles; setose on shoulders; shoulders with curved hairs; shoulders with 3-10 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 0.5-2 mm high; entire. Culm-sheath blade ovate; demarcated but persistent; erect; 12 cm long. Leaves cauline. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface; outer margin glabrous. Leaf-sheath oral hairs setose; erect and deciduous; 3-10 mm long. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate; 1-3 mm long. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long; truncate. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 15-25 cm long; 15-23 mm wide. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. Inflorescences: Flowering specimens unknown." — KewScience POWO, as "Bambusa jaintiana", accessed 30 July 2020 [#1305].
(2) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 800–1200 cm long; 20–35 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; hollow; 40 cm long; distally mealy, or glabrous. Culm-nodes flush with internodes. Lateral branches dendroid. Buds or branches present on lower quarter of culm. Branch complement several. Culm-sheaths persistent; 14 cm long; 1 times as long as wide; glabrous; auriculate; with unequal auricles; with 10–20 mm wide auricles, or 20–50 mm wide auricles; setose on shoulders; shoulders with curved hairs; shoulders with 3–10 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 0.5–2 mm high; entire. Culm-sheath blade ovate; demarcated but persistent; erect; 12 cm long. Leaves cauline. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface; outer margin glabrous. Leaf-sheath oral hairs setose; erect and deciduous; 3–10 mm long. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate; 1–3 mm long. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long; truncate. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 15–25 cm long; 15–23 mm wide. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. Inflorescence: Flowering specimens unknown." — Kew GrassBase, as "Bambusa alamii", accessed 30 July 2020 [#1335].
(3) C. M. A. Stapleton, Bamboos Nepal, 1994: p. 19, as "Bambusa alamii" [#1099].
(4) C. M. A. Stapleton, New names for bamboos of Nepal (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1 (1), 2007: p. 140 [#1098].
Images: Line drawings in C. M. A. Stapleton, l.c., 1994: p. 19, as "Bambusa alamii" [#1099]. Photos by สวนไผ่นานาพันธุ์ สวน on Facebook, 19 Oct. 2020, as "Bambusa alamii".
Uses: Culms for weaving; plants as garden ornamentals and for landscaping.
Cultivation requirements: Easy and fast-growing; in full sun; loamy, moisture-retentive to moist soil with good drainage.
Bambusa jaintiana — photo was taken in the Terai region of Central Nepal, by courtesy of Peter Edwards
Specimen: BS-0853 [C4, BBG] (living plants), Pak Chong (ปากช่อง), Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, altitude ca. 310 m, cult.; coll. from a village near Chitwan in the tropical Terai region (67-300 m alt.) of Central Nepal in 2013; P. E., pers. comm., 27 Oct. 2015 ff., the plant received 28 Jan. 2016 at Boonthammee Bamboo Garden (BT0123), and 25 Oct. 2019 at Bambusetum Baan Sammi (BS-0853).
Characteristics: Rhizomes pachymorph, short. Culms with a white waxy deposit when young. Young shoots conical, thickly covered with white wax, otherwise glabrous; sheath and blade light green; sheath margins eciliate; culm-leaf blades stringently erect; emerge from late March to August. Branches several, subequal, thin, the central one slightly dominant; branching intravaginal; branching development basipetal. Culm-leaves persistent on unbranched lower culms, late deciduous to loosely attached on branched upper culms. Culm-leaf sheath glabrous, peached-colored when young, becoming light straw-colored with age; apex triangular-truncate. Culm-leaf auricles prominent, rounded, unequal. Foliage-leaf blades glabrous above, puberulent beneath.