— BAMBOOS OF THAILAND — ONLINE VERSION OF 1 JANUARY 2021 — LATEST UPDATE OF 21 SEPTEMBER 2025 —
Chimonobambusa gaolinensis H. Gao
Thai name: No known records.
Chinese name: 高氏方竹 (gāo shì fāng zhú).
Distribution: THAILAND (North): Introduced, but there is no known record of whether this species has been successfully kept in cultivation in Thailand. — CHINA (South): southeastern Yunnan, in broad-leaved forests and on forest edges, at 1,000–2,000 m altitude.
Description: "Culms 2-5 m tall, 0.7-2 cm DBH [diameter at breast height]. Internodes 10-22 cm long, with sub-solid culms. Sheaths caducous, with purple-black dorsal surfaces and the sheath blades subulate, 3-4 cm long. Leaves 2 to 3 emerge at the ending branchlets, with the leaf blades small-sized, 7-15 cm long, 0.8-1.5 cm wide. … [flowers and seeds described]." — B. Lan [兰冰 (lán bīng)], Compendium of Bamboo Fruits and Seedlings, Kunming, 2010: p. 63 [#1179].
Uses: Shoots for food, palatable; culms for supporting frames and farm tools; plants used as garden ornamentals and for landscaping.
Cultivation requirements: Not recorded; established plants can resist temperatures as low as –22 °C. — acc. FMXG.
Comments: A valid publication of the name, Chimonobambusa gaolinensis H. Gao, is not known. The name was published in B. Lan, l.c., 2010: p. 4, 63 [#1179].
Specimen: BS-0682 [SSG] (living plants), raised from seeds, introduced from FMXG, Yunnan, China, as "Chimonobambusa gaolinensis, 高氏方竹 (gāo shì fāng zhú)"; collected 2010, not received; collected early June 2011, and received 21 June 2011.
Seed viability: 15 days under normal atmospheric conditions; 45 days under storage at 1–6 °C. — acc. FMXG.
Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 100–150 humid husk-wrapped seeds.
Seed germination: The germination rate is rather low.
Comments:
(1) The seedlings were distributed in northern Thailand, but the current locations of the cultivated plants are unknown.
Whether the imported seeds represent the species with the name under which they were received or another Chimonobambusa species could not be verified from the seeds and seedlings.
Chimonobambusa gaolinensis (BS-0682): Young seedling (left), seeds, humid, with their husks (right)