Bambusa odashimae
Bambusa odashimae Hatus. ex Ohrnb., Bamb. World, 1999: 271; ex D. Z. Li & Stapleton, Fl. China 22, 2006: 35.
Synonyms: Leleba edulis Odash.; Bambusa edulis (Odash.) Keng f., illeg.; Sinocalamus edulis (Odash.) Keng f.; Dendrocalamopsis edulis (Odash.) Keng f.; Bambusa taiwanensis L. C. Chia & H. L. Fung, illeg.
Thai name: ไผ่โอดาชิมา (phai odachima).
Chinese name: 乌脚绿竹 (wū jiǎo lǜ zhú), which translated means "blackfoot green bamboo" or "dark foot green bamboo"; "blackfoot" might refer to the dark nodal hairs.
Distribution: THAILAND: introduced from Taiwan, in cultivation, rare. — CHINA (East): Taiwan.
Culm size: Height 10–20 m, diameter 4–12 (13) cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "Culms 10-20 m tall, 4-12 cm in diam., slightly zigzag; nodes prominent, with a ring of dense brown hairs at nodes when young; internodes 15-50 cm long; walls 1-2 cm thick; branches numerous at nodes. Sheath of culm deciduous, coriaceous, densely pubescent especially on lower portion, brown-fimbriate along margins when young; auricles of sheath small or inconspicuous; ligule of sheath narrow, 1-5 mm high, aristate; blade of sheath narrowly triangular, brown-pubescent on both surfaces at base. Leaves 9-13, oblong or broadly linear-lanceolate, 10-33 cm long, 2.5-4.5 cm broad, glabrous above, densely pubescent beneath; veins 6-10, veinlets 9, parallel, densely spinulose-scabrous along margins; petiole short, 2-4 mm long; auricles of leaf small, with brown bristles at apex; ligule of leaf rounded, aristate; sheath of leaf 4.5-15 cm long, glabrous. … [flowers described]." — Flora of Taiwan [#1106].
(2) "Culms to 20 m, 7.5–13 cm in diam.; internodes 20–35 cm; wall 1–1.8 cm thick; nodes flat. Branches many from basal nodes, main ones slightly dominant at mid-culm. Culm sheaths deciduous, leathery, hispid, base of outer margin usually with an arrowlike expansion below point of attachment; auricles small; oral setae few; ligule ca. 1 mm, entire or ciliate; blade erect, base ca. 1/2 as wide as sheath apex, adaxially hispid. Leaf sheaths glabrous; auricles minute; oral setae few, 7–10 mm; ligule truncate, ca. 1 mm; blade oblong-lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 20–34 × 3–5 cm. … [flowers described] Caryopsis unknown." — Flora of China [#1303].
(3) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of Taiwan [#1106]. Photos in BambooWeb.info [#1340]; 陳靖賦 on Facebook, 6 July 2015.
Uses: Shoots for food.
Specimen: BS-0786 [-] (living plant), Taiwan, cult., received via C. S. as "烏腳綠竹", 6 Dec. 2013.
Characteristics: Habit unicaespitose, dense clump. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms straight, erect, slightly bending outwards above; ultimate length and diameter not yet known (about 8 m long by 4 cm in diameter in June 2021). Young shoots conical, green; culm-leaf blades erect; emerge from May/June to September. Culm-internodes terete, 30–40 cm long, dull green, glabrous, thinly farinose when young, brownish green when old, walls thick. Culm-nodes glabrous, smooth, not prominent; nodal line horizontal, marginally protruding 0.5 mm; supranodal line discernible, without a ridge, 7–10 mm above the nodal line; with a narrow farinose band below the nodal line when young; aerial roots occasionally on the lowest one or two nodes present. Branch-buds solitary, ovate, ca. 2.5 cm wide and 0.9 cm high, from the basal node up. Branches several on the mid-culm, many on the upper culm, subequal, the central one somewhat dominant, usually unbranched on the basal and lower culm; branching intravaginal; rebranching. Culm-leaves deciduous. Culm-leaf sheaths about a third or a quarter as long as the internode, leathery, green to yellowish green or peach-colored when young, occasionally with a reddish tint, almost glossy, light straw-colored when dry, glabrous; apex broadly horizontally truncate; margins pale ciliate. Culm-leaf auricles erect glabrous lobes, not or slightly undulated, about two to three times as wide as high, glossy dark purplish or glossy green when young, margin towards the ends with several long, untidy pale bristles, the lobes adnate to and contiguous with the basal margin of the blade and extending towards the sheath margin. Culm-leaf ligule very low, subentire. Culm-leaf blades leathery, erect, late caducous, triangular; blade base about three-fourth as wide as the sheath apex; blade length about half or a third as long as the sheath; glabrous, green, occasionally with a reddish tint and almost glossy when young, light straw-colored when dry; apex acuminate; margins short pale ciliate near the base. Foliage-leaves 5–7 per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths rounded, glabrous, light green when young, straw-colored when dry; apex truncate; margins eciliate. Foliage-leaf auricles small glabrous lobes, ca. 2–3 mm wide and 1–2 mm high, orange when young, margin with spreading pale bristles 8–15 mm long. Foliage-leaf ligule inconspicuous, low, ca. 0.5 mm high, margin entire. Foliage-leaf blades soft, thin, lanceolate, 11–20 × 2–3.5 cm, glabrous above, puberulent beneath, mid-green on both surfaces; base rounded to wedge-shaped; apex attenuate; margins antrorsely scabrous; midvein proximally distinct and light green beneath; pseudopetiole short, 1 mm or less.
Comments: Although BS-0786 has not yet reached its maximum size after seven and a half years in June 2021, the characteristics observed and described obviously do not correspond to those of Bambusa odashimae. Rather, a similarity to Bambusa oldhamii can be seen.