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— BAMBOOS OF THAILAND — ONLINE VERSION OF 1 JANUARY 2021 — LATEST UPDATE OF 21 SEPTEMBER 2025 —
Dendrocalamus sikkimensis Gamble ex Oliv. in Hooker's Icon. Pl. ser. 3, 8, 1888: pl. 1770.
Thai name: No known records.
Chinese name: 锡金龙竹 (xí jīn lóng zhú).
Distribution: THAILAND: introduced, in cultivation, rare. — INDIA (North, East): Sikkim, West Bengal. — BHUTAN. — CHINA (South): southern Yunnan, at 100–600 m altitude.
Culm size: Height 15–20 m, diameter 10–15 cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 1700–2000 cm long; 120–200 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; with small lumen; 30–45 cm long; dark green; antrorsely scabrous. Lateral branches dendroid. Buds or branches absent from lower quarter of culm. Culm-sheaths 30 cm long; 0.9 times as long as wide; pubescent; with dark brown hairs; auriculate; setose on shoulders. Culm-sheath ligule dentate. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; reflexed; 20–30 cm long; 50–70 mm wide. Leaf-sheaths smooth. Leaf-sheath oral hairs setose. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate. Ligule an eciliate membrane, or a ciliolate membrane. Leaf-blade base asymmetrical; with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate, or oblong; 15–25 cm long; 25–50 mm wide. Leaf-blade midrib conspicuous. Leaf-blade venation indistinct; with 20 secondary veins. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough abaxially; pilose; hairy abaxially. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase, accessed 13 Aug. 2020 [#1335].
(2) Flora of China [#1303]. (3) J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: p. 82 [#1230].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]; J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae Brit. India, 1896: pl. 72 [#1230]. Photos in AsianFlora (culms) [#1332]; BambooWeb.info [#1340]; BambooLand (culms).
Specimens: BS-0255 [-] (living plants), received from the USA, cult., in 2009; BS-0297 [†] (living plant), received from Malaysia, cult., in 2009, raised from seeds.
Characteristics: Young shoots emerge from July to October.
Uses: Culms for construction, containers, and water buckets. Shoots for food. Leaves are said to be poisonous to cattle.
Cultivation requirements: Grows in part shade to full sun, in 4.5–7.5 pH soils, sandy loam to clay loam, normal moisture-retentive to moist.
Comments:
(1) The culm color was described as being dark green, but there are also records of reddish-brown color, and a yellow to orange color (when exposed to the sun) in young culms.
(2) Most if not all plants in cultivation derive from seeds obtained from the gregarious flowering of this species in 2005–2006.
Dendrocalamus sikkimensis (BS-0297): Young culm-leaf, showing its large bristly auricles and blade
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