Chimonocalamus pallens
Chimonocalamus pallens Hsueh & T. P. Yi, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 1 (2), 1979: 78.
Synonyms: Chimonocalamus bicorniculatus S. F. Li & Z. P. Wang, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 33 (6), 1995: 614; Semiarundinaria bicorniculata (S. F. Li & Z. P. Wang) Govaerts, World Checkl. Seed Pl. 3 (1), 1999: 21.
Thai name: No known records.
Chinese name: 灰香竹 (hui xiang zhu).
English name: Gray Fragrant Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND: Introduced, but there is no known record of whether this species has been successfully kept in cultivation in Thailand. — CHINA (South): Southern Yunnan, in evergreen broad-leaved forests on mountains at 1,400–2,000 m altitude. USA: in cultivation.
Images: Photos in H. C. Tan, 2012: 50 [#1195].
Chimonocalamus pallens: Habit — by courtesy of Lihua Jiang, Yunnan Bamboo, China
Descriptions:
(1) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 400-600 cm long; 20-30 mm diam.; woody; with root thorns from the nodes. Culm-internodes terete; 15-25 cm long; light green; distally mealy and pubescent. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement three; in an irregular line. Culm-sheaths coriaceous; green and purple; striped; hispid; with dark brown hairs; without auricles; glabrous on shoulders. Culm-sheath ligule 3-8 mm high; dentate. Culm-sheath blade triangular; erect; glabrous on surface. Leaves 2-5 per branch. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs scanty, or lacking. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long; truncate. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades deciduous at the ligule; linear, or lanceolate; 5-20.5 cm long; 10-20 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with 8-12 secondary veins. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. Inflorescences: Flowering specimens unknown." — KewScience Plants of the World Online, accessed 9 July 2020.
(2) "Culms 5–8 m, 2–5 cm in diam.; internodes terete, 12–29 cm, initially white powdery, later gray-green, glabrous; nodes prominent, slightly pubescent. Culm sheaths longer than internode, thinly leathery, striate, sparsely, glossy-tawny hairy, distally attenuate and triangular, apex centrally strongly convex or projected, slightly projected on 2 sides, apex 2–4 cm wide; auricles tiny; oral setae several, long; ligule 3–13 mm; blade lanceolate, 4–16 × 1–1.5 cm. Leaves 5 or 6 per ultimate branch; sheaths glabrous; auricles absent or tiny; oral setae 1 or 2; ligule truncate, ca. 1.5 mm; blade linear-lanceolate, 10–13 × 0.8–1.5 cm. Inflorescence and caryopsis unknown. New shoots Jun–Jul." — Flora of China, accessed 9 July 2020 [#1303].
(3) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]. Photos in AsianFlora [#1332]; BambooWeb.
Uses: Shoots and timbers are high-yielding. Shoots used for food; culms for house construction and weaving (resistant to borer insects and durable); plants grown as garden ornamentals.
Cultivation requirements: Grows in part shade to full sun, sandy loam to clay loam, normal moisture-retentive to moist soil with good drainage. Frost-resistant to −7 °C.
Comments: No record of a flowering event for this species could be found (9 July 2020). However, there is a record mentioning seeds of Chimonocalamus pallens: H. Q. Yang & al., Seed germination and storage of six woody bamboo species in Yunnan, China, Forest Research, Beijing, vol. 26 (6), 2013: p. 710-714 [#1316].
Specimen: BS-0613 [-] (living plants), raised from seeds. The seeds from FMXG, Yunnan, China, as "Chimonocalamus pallens, 灰香竹 (huī xiāng zhú)"; collected 2010, and received 14 Dec. 2010 (BS-0613); collected June 2011, but were not received.
Seed viability: Three months under normal atmospheric conditions; half a year under storage at 1–6 °C. — acc. FMXG.
Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 120–160 dried spikelets (husk-wrapped seeds).
Seed germination: Seed placed in moistened coir at 100% in December 2010, 22–25 °C day temperature, diffuse light, 12–14 °C night temperature, atmospheric humidity >70%, coleoptiles emerged after 8 days, germination rate moderate (40–60%).
Chimonocalamus pallens (BS-0613): Seeds
Chimonocalamus pallens (BS-0613): Seedling