Bambusa pervariabilis × Dendrocalamus latiflorus
Bambusa pervariabilis artificial intergeneric hybrids
Hybridization with several bamboo species was carried out by the Forestry Institute of Guangdong, Guangzhou, southern China, in the 1970s (D. Ohrnberger, Bamboos World, 1999: p. 273 [#1001]). According to Jinhe Fu, the hybrid of Bambusa pervariabilis × Dendrocalamus latiflorus was "successfully bred after many years of artificial controlled pollination by the Forestry Department in Liuzhou, Guangxi, using Bambusa pervariabilis as the female parent and Dendrocalamus latiflorus as the male parent" (Jinhe Fu, on Facebook, 1 January 2024).
The Yunnan Bamboo Nursery FMXG, Kunming, kept several of those hybrids in cultivation, and three of them were introduced to Bambusetum Baan Sammi, Doi Saket, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, by Dr. Cliff Sussman in January 2012, who assumed that there had already been confusion about the labeling of these hybrids in Yunnan. In the same year, two of these introduced hybrids were planted out on the grounds of Bambusetum Baan Sammi (BS-0725, BS-0726), where they reached heights of over 10 m within 5 years, and a third hybrid (BS-0727) was planted out on the grounds of Boonthammee Bamboo Garden, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai.
The two hybrids at Bambusetum Baan Sammi have thrived well and are still extant in 2024. A further plant (BS-0079, labeled as a species of Schizostachyum and also received from the same source but one year later) soon turned out not to be any species of Schizostachyum but one of the intergeneric hybrids. It resembles most closely to BS-0725.
Bambusa pervariabilis artificial intergeneric hybrid (BS-0725): Habit, and abaxial view of culm-leaf
Specimen: BS-0725 [E1] (living plant); introduced from Yunnan, China, by C. S., received 23 Jan. 2012.
Thai name: ไผ่เมฆขาว (phai mek khao) (according to คุณศิรภพ Khun Siraphop of สวนไผ่นานาพันธุ์ Nana Phan Nursery, Prachin Buri, 19 Jan. 2019, pers. comm.).
English name: White Cloud Bamboo.
Characteristics: Habit tight caespitose. Rhizome pachymorph, 15–20 cm long, short-necked. Culms straight, stiffly erect, older culms slightly bending outwards, to 17 m tall. Young shoots light bluish green with erect broad triangular to lanceolate mid-green culm-leaf blades, scattered short dark hairy; emerge from April/May to August. Culm-internodes terete, 32–44 (49) cm long, dull mid-green, glabrous, smooth; thickly but irregularly covered with a powdery white deposit, easy to wipe off; diameter to 8 cm; moderately thick-walled to thin-walled, wall widths 0.4–1.2 (1.9) cm on the lower and mid-culm (→ table with culm size dimensions). Culm-nodes glabrous, smooth, flat; sheath scar marginally protruding 0.5–1 mm; supranodal line discernible, without a ridge, 6–10 mm above the nodal line; without a white farinose or sericeous ring below or above the sheath scar; with aerial roots on the basal nodes. Branch-buds solitary, from the basal node up. Branches 1 (on mid-culm) to several on upper nodes, the central one very dominant; unbranched on the basal and lower culm, usually the first 11–15 nodes without branches, except for occasional short thin rudimentary branches on the lower culm; branching intravaginal; rebranching. Culm-leaves deciduous. Culm-leaf sheaths 26 cm wide at the base, 28–29 (33) cm long, 2/3 as long as the internode, thickly leathery, rigid, glossy light green to dull light bluish-green and changing to yellowish-green when young, dull light straw-colored when dry, abaxially irregularly scattered with short dark brown to blackish hairs, not farinose, adaxially with irregular patches of a powdery white deposit; margins eciliate; apex horizontal, somewhat waved, with the middle part slightly convex. Culm-leaf auricles rim-like, slightly bent outwards and waved, about 10 mm long and 1–2 mm high, dark green and glossy when young; with short undulating and interlacing white bristles, more or less deciduous with age. Culm-leaf ligule 3–4 mm high, denticulate, occasionally with a few early caducous bristles. Culm-leaf blades coriaceous, persistent, erect, mid-green when young, light straw-colored when dry, broadly triangular, basal edges rounded, 6.5 cm wide near the base, 16 cm long on lower culm, longer (26 cm) on mid and upper culm; width of the junction with the sheath 5 cm; abaxially scattered with short brown hairs throughout, becoming blackish with age, adaxially glabrous, rough; apex acuminate, sharp-pointed. Foliage-leaves (5) 7–10 per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheaths yellowish green when young, glabrous; margins eciliate. Foliage-leaf auricles inconspicuous, rim-like, with deciduous 3–6 mm long whitish bristles. Foliage-leaf ligule 1–2 mm high, inconspicuous, entire (or denticulate or ciliolate?); outer ligule present. Foliage-leaf blades stout, lanceolate, 20–30 (37) × 2.5–4 (7) cm, mid to dark green above, dull mid-green beneath, glabrous on both surfaces; base rounded to oblique cuneate; apex acuminate; margins smooth or antrorsely scaberulous; midrib proximally slightly prominent and light green beneath; pseudopetiole 4–6 mm long. Flowers and seeds are unknown.
Uses: Shoots for food, palatable, without a bitter taste; culms for construction and paper pulp; plants for landscaping, suitable for screening and good for windbreaks.
Cultivation requirements: Easy and fast-growing; preferably in full sun, on sandy loam to clay loam, normal moisture-retentive to moist with good drainage.
Comments:
(1) The hybrid BS-0725, when received, was labeled as "7-B. pervariabilis×D. daii No. 3- 4". This could be Bambusa pervariabilis McClure × Dendrocalamopsis daii Keng f. No. 3, syn. Bambusa pervariabilis McClure × Dendrocalamopsis grandis Q. H. Dai & X. L. Tao ex Keng f. No. 3; Chinese name: 撑绿竹3号 (chēng lǜ zhú 3 hào). There is no confirmation of this identification. A photo of "Bambusa pervariabilis X Dendrocalamus latiflorus No. 7 FMXG" was published in H. C. Tan, 2012: 37 [#1195], which might be identical to specimen BS-0725.
(2) The label indicates that the plant derives from two parents: Bambusa pervariabilis McClure and Dendrocalamopsis daii Keng f. The correct name of the latter parent is Dendrocalamopsis grandis Q. H. Dai & X. L. Tao, if Dendrocalamopsis is accepted at generic rank, or Bambusa grandis (Q. H. Dai & X. L. Tao) Ohrnb., if Dendrocalamopsis is considered a taxon of infrageneric rank (Flora of China, taxon ID 250070934). At Bambusetum Baan Sammi, members of both parents have been present as mature or nearly mature plants in the living collection: Bambusa pervariabilis 'Viridistriata' (BS-0259), and Bambusa grandis (BS-0458), but they were abandoned later, the former in 2020, the latter in August 2022.
(3) BS-0725 is neither similar in characteristics (culm-leaves, branching, foliage-leaves) to Bambusa pervariabilis nor Dendrocalamopsis daii (Bambusa grandis). The shape of auricles in the culm-leaves is different, there is low branching in both species but not in BS-0725, and the foliage-leaf blades are considerably larger in BS-0725 than in Bambusa pervariabilis, and somewhat larger than in Bambusa grandis. Judging from the overall characteristics, it seems to me more likely that Dendrocalamus latiflorus is one of the parents of this hybrid, and the other parent could be Bambusa grandis. However, this is merely speculative, although hybridization with Dendrocalamus latiflorus was carried out in China, and two other hybrid plants with Dendrocalamus latiflorus as one of the parents were received in 2012.
Specimen: BS-0726 [C3] (living plant); introduced from Yunnan, China, by C. S., received 23 Jan. 2012.
Characteristics: They have not yet been observed in detail except for the culm-leaf, which matches perfectly with those of BS-0725.
Comments:
(1) The hybrid BS-0726, when received, was labeled as "8-B. pervariabilis×D. latiflorus ×B. textilis No. 1 - 3". This could be Bambusa pervariabilis McClure × (Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro × Bambusa textilis McClure) No. 1; Chinese name: 撑麻青竹1号 (chēng má qīng zhú 1 hào). There is no confirmation of this identification.
(2) A photo was published in H. C. Tan, 2012: 36 [#1195].
(3) This plant remains temporarily under observation at Bambusetum Baan Sammi. Ten years later, in 2022, this specimen appears to have nearly reached its maximum height. No differences from BS-0725 could be found, except that the height and diameter (to 6 cm) of the culms are only slightly smaller.
Specimen: BS-0727 [BBG] (living plant); introduced from Yunnan, China, by C. S., received 23 Jan. 2012.
Characteristics: Not observed.
Comments:
(1) The hybrid BS-0727, when received, was labeled as "9-B. pervariabilis×D. latiflorus No. 7 -2". This could be Bambusa pervariabilis McClure × Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro No. 7; Chinese name: 撑麻竹7号 (chēng má zhú 7 hào). There is no confirmation of this identification.
(2) This bamboo plant was transferred to Boonthammee Bamboo Garden soon after it was received at Bambusetum Baan Sammi.
Specimen: BS-0079 [N4] (living plant), received as "#6 Schizostachyum diffusum" from FMXG, Yunnan, China, 25 Jan. 2013.
Characteristics: Habit caespitose, tight. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms straight, stiffly erect below, slightly bending outwards above, over 15 m tall [ultimate height not yet known]. Young shoots conical, light green; culm-leaf blades erect; emerge from April to July/August. Culm-internodes terete, 40–50 cm long, green, glabrous, farinose when young, diameter 6 cm; wall width 3 mm by 2.2 cm in diameter, 5–7 mm by 3.8 cm in diameter at 1 m height above the ground. Culm-nodes glabrous, smooth, not prominent; nodal line horizontal; sheath scar not or marginally protruding; supranodal line obscure, without a ridge, ca. 10 mm above the nodal line; without a white transverse band below or above the nodal line; aerial roots occasionally present on the basal nodes. Branch-buds solitary, subrotund; from the basal node up. Branches several, the central one dominant, ascending; unbranched on the basal and lower culm up to about 6 m lengths; branching intravaginal; rebranching. Culm-leaves (sheath + blade) deciduous, shorter than the internode. Culm-leaf sheath parabolic, 32 cm long, 30 cm wide at the base, thickly papery, light green when young, light straw-colored when dry, changing to a somewhat darker and reddish tint with age, thinly farinose when fresh; abaxially glabrous or with patches of short, appressed dark brown hairs, blackish when old; apex rounded or almost truncate, its middle part ca. 9.5 cm wide and slightly flattened; margins initially irregularly short brown ciliate, or eciliate, or becoming eciliate when dry. Culm-leaf auricles small, rim-like, glabrous, becoming pleated, glossy brownish-green when young, adnate to and contiguous with the basal margin of the blade, extending to the sheath margin, each rim ca. 12–22 mm wide and 3 mm high, slightly increasing height towards the ends; along the rim margin vested with erect, pale, slightly undulated bristles, ca. 3 mm high near the blade base, but increasing the height to ca. 10 mm towards the ends. Culm-leaf ligule 3–5 mm high, denticulate. Culm-leaf blade thickly papery, persistent, stiff-erect, triangular with slightly rounded basal edges, blade 17–18 cm long, base 7–8 cm wide, on the lower culm, broad lanceolate on the mid-culm and upper culm; light green to light brownish-green when young, light straw-colored when dry; adaxial surface glabrous or nearly so, somewhat rough; abaxial surface scattered with short, appressed dark brown hairs, blackish when old; junction with the sheath broad; blade apex sharp-pointed; margins eciliate, incurved for ca. 3 cm from the top when dry. Foliage-leaves ca. 6 per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheath medium green and with an orange tint towards the apex when young, glabrous; apex truncate; margins eciliate. Foliage-leaf auricles callus-like low rims, orange when young, with erect, pale, slightly bent bristles ca. 3 mm long. Foliage-leaf ligule short, subentire; outer ligule a low callus or rim. Foliage-leaf blades medium green, mid-sized to large, lanceolate to oblanceolate; base rounded to wedge-shaped; apex attenuate; midrib distinctive, yellowish-green.
Comments:
(1) Branches and foliage-leaves could not yet be observed in detail, as they are only present in the upper part of the approximately 15 m tall culms, the top of which is currently hidden by the canopy of trees and climbers.
(2) The characteristics of specimen BS-0079 do not match those of Schizostachyum diffusum, an unexpected fact that became evident as the plant grew up. In addition, it is highly unlikely that this specimen is a species of the genus Schizostachyum at all. The above description, based on the adult plant, mainly the characteristics of the culm-leaves, agrees pretty well with the artificial intergeneric hybrids, a group to which BS-0079 has now been assigned. Presumably, one of the hybrids was mistaken for Schizostachyum diffusum and incorrectly labeled before the plant arrived at Bambusetum Baan Sammi.
BS-0079: Culm-leaf