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— BAMBOOS OF THAILAND — ONLINE VERSION OF 1 JANUARY 2021 — LATEST UPDATE OF 21 SEPTEMBER 2025 —
Chusquea subtessellata Hitchc., Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 40, 1927: 81.
Synonym: Swallenochloa subtessellata (Hitchc.) McClure, Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 9, 1973: 113.
English name: Paramo Bamboo.
Spanish name: bambú de páramo.
Distribution: COSTA RICA to PANAMA.
Descriptions:
(1) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms 1500-3000 cm long; 4-8 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; thick-walled; distally pruinose, or glabrous. Culm-nodes swollen. Lateral branches dendroid; intravaginal. Branch complement several; in a clump; with subequal branches; thinner than stem. Culm-sheaths pilose; with yellow hairs; without auricles. Culm-sheath ligule 1.7 mm high. Culm-sheath blade triangular; 2-2.5 cm long; acuminate. Leaf-sheaths keeled; glabrous on surface, or pubescent; outer margin hairy. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.5-1 mm long. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base broadly rounded; with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.2 cm long. Leaf-blades deciduous at the ligule; ovate; 1.5-11 cm long; 4.5-12 mm wide; coriaceous; light green. Leaf-blade venation with distinct cross veins. Leaf-blade margins cartilaginous; scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — KewScience POWO, accessed 3 Nov. 2020 [#1305].
(2) "A small, shrubby bamboo rarely more than 3 m tall with yellowish culms to 1.3 cm in diameter and stiffly upright, triangular, pale glaucescent green leaves. Chusquea subtessellata is native to high elevation paramo shrubland in Costa Rica and western Panama between 2600 and 3800 m." — RarePalmSeeds.com.
Images: Photos in RarePalmSeeds.com.
Seed viability: Unknown.
Specimen: BS-0944 [-] (seeds), from Costa Rica or Panama, without precise locality and collection date; the seeds received from T. W. S., RarePalmSeeds.com, as "Chusquea subtessellata - Paramo Bamboo", 2 Sep. 2019.
Seed weight: 2.88 g ≈ "2,000" dried, husk-wrapped seeds.
Seed germination: All seeds were placed in moistened coir dust at 100%, and on an additional two different types of media, on 3 Sep. 2019, and on further days of the same month, with atmospheric humidity >70%, not a single seed germinated within a 2-month observation period.
Comments: Seeds of this species were offered by RarePalmSeeds.com, Tobias W. Spanner, Germany, in 2019 and 2020.
Chusquea subtessellata (BS-0944): Husk-wrapped seeds
Chusquea subtessellata (BS-0944): Weight of dried husk-wrapped seeds
Chusquea subtessellata — Photo from RarePalmSeeds.com
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