Dendrocalamus minor

Dendrocalamus minor (McClure) L. C. Chia & H. L. Fung, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 18 (2), 1980: 215.

- Synonyms: Sinocalamus minor McClure, Sunyatsenia 6, 1941: 47; Dendrocalamus sapidus Q. H. Dai & D. Y. Huang, J. Bamboo Res. 14 (3), 1995: 1.
- Thai name: No known records.
- Chinese name: 吊丝竹 (diào sī zhú).
- Distribution: THAILAND: No report was found that Dendrocalamus minor var. minor was introduced into Thailand. — CHINA (South): Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou; on low hills.
- Description: "Culms 5–12 m, (3–)6–8 cm in diam.; internodes green or yellow with green stripes, 30–45 cm; wall 5–5.6 mm thick. Branches several. Culm sheaths deciduous, initially grass-green, leathery, initially appressed brownish hispid, becoming glabrous; auricles small; ligule 3–8 mm, fimbriate; blade reflexed, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, abaxially glabrous. Leaf sheaths initially slightly hairy, becoming glabrous; ligule ca. 1 mm, serrulate; blade oblong-lanceolate, 10–25 × 1.5–3 cm, base rounded, apex acute. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Flora of China, accessed 13 Aug. 2020 [#1303].
- Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]. Photos in plantjdx.com (culms, leaves, flowers) [#1345]; BambooWeb.info [#1340].
- Characteristics: Culms erect below, slightly bending above, tips drooping; culm internodes green; nodes on the lower culm unbranched.

Dendrocalamus minor var. amoenus (Q. H. Dai & C. F. Huang) Hsueh & D. Z. Li, J. Bamboo Res. 8 (1), 1989: 39.

- Synonyms: Sinocalamus minor var. amoenus Q. H. Dai & C. F. Huang, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 19 (2), 1981: 261; Dendrocalamus minor f. amoenus (Q. H. Dai & C. F. Huang) Ohrnb., Bamb. World Intro. 3, 1996: 14.
- Thai name: ไผ่ขวัญดี (phai khwan di).
- Chinese name: 花吊丝竹 (huā diào sī zhú).
- English names: Ghost Bamboo; Angel Mist Bamboo.
- Distribution: THAILAND, introduced about 2000 or earlier, in cultivation. — CHINA (South): Guangxi, on low hills. — Frequently cultivated in the USA and AUSTRALIA.
- Culm size: Clump height up to 17 m, culm length up to 20 m, diameter to 8.7 cm (H. Erken on flickr.com).
- Description: Flora of China [#1303].
- Images: Photos in plantjdx.com (culms, shoot) [#1345]; BambooWeb.info [#1340]; BambooCraft.net [#1341]; H. Erken on flickr.com (lower culms, culm diameter, habit).
- Comments: Sporadic flowering and seeding have been recorded from plants in the USA (Robert Saporito on Facebook, 22 Nov. 2019).

- Specimens: BS-0254 [C8], BS-0254-1 [-], BS-0460 [-], BS-0325 [-] (living plants), received from the USA in 2009.
- Characteristics:
- (1) Young shoots emerge from May to September. Culm-internodes pale yellow, with several green stripes, covered with almost persistent whitish waxy powder, thus obscuring the culm color.
- (2) Culm size dimensions: Culm-internode length 38–57 cm; thin-walled on the lower, mid, and upper culm, moderately thick-walled on the basal culm. Basal culm 0.2 m above the ground, culm diameter 5.8 cm, wall thickness 1.0 cm, lacuna diameter 3.8 cm; lower culm 3.55 m above the ground, diameter 6.2 cm, wall 0.5 cm, lacuna diameter 5.2 cm; mid-culm 10.15 m above the ground, diameter 4.0 cm, wall 0.4 cm, lacuna 3.2 cm; upper culm 14.7 m above the ground, diameter 1.35 cm, wall 0.2 cm, lacuna 0.95 cm; culm apex 18.7 m. The biggest culm has a basal diameter of 8.0 cm and an estimated height of 20 m.
- (3) Habit: Clump tight to moderately tight caespitose, culms erect and upright on the lower and mid-culm, slightly bending outwards on the upper culm, the very tip drooping (Facebook, 14 June 2016).
- Uses: Plants as garden ornamentals and for landscaping.
- Comments:
- (1) There is a mature plant of var. amoenus grown in Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai Province, which was planted more than 10 years ago (ธ. บ., pers. comm., 2 Feb. 2014, photos seen).
- (2) A variety of Dendrocalamus minor, named "variegata", which is displayed in plantjdx.com [#1345] as "Dendrocalamus … minor varigata 花頭吊絲竹" (huā tou diào sī zhú), is the same as var. amoenus.

→ BS-0254 • photos: 30+

→ BS-0254-1 • photos: 1

Culm-internode of Dendrocalamus minor var. amoenus (BS-0254)