Dendrocalamus sp. (SG)

Specimen: BS-0476 [BBG] (living plant), received as "Gigantochloa sp., no label" by C.S. from cult. plants at Singapore Botanic Garden, received at Baan Sammi 1 June 2010.

Characteristics:

(1) Habit a tight giant clumper. Rhizome pachymorph, short. Culms erect. Young shoots dark, short-hairy, with spreading culm-leaf blades, shooting April(?) to July. Culm-internodes terete, 30–38 cm long, glabrous, white-powdery, thick-walled, an occasional internode on the basal culm extremely short (1–3 cm long). Culm-nodes glabrous, not prominent on thick culms, somewhat prominent on thin culms and branches, with a narrow white ring below the sheath scar. Branches several, the central one dominant; branching intravaginal. Culm-leaves tough, deciduous. Culm-leaf sheaths dark brown with a reddish tint when young, sparsely short-hairy throughout, shorter than the internode, margins ciliate, apex narrow and concave-truncate. Culm-leaf auricles low blackish rims, somewhat twisted. Culm-leaf ligule tall, subentire, blackish when young. Culm-leaf blade deflexed, small, early caducous from the sheath. Foliage-leaves (7) 9–11 (13) per branchlet. Foliage-leaf sheath glabrous, keeled, reddish towards the apex. Foliage-leaf auricles and oral setae lacking. Foliage-leaf ligule 5 mm long, reddish, glabrous, entire, eciliate. Foliage-leaf blades large and broad, (25) 35–40 (42) cm x (4.5) 6.5–8.0 (9.5) cm, lanceolate, base rounded, apex attenuate, glabrous on both surfaces, margins antrorsely scaberulous; midrib prominent; pseudopetiole 5 mm long.

(2) Wall thickness (w in mm) was measured in internodes of the following diameters (Ø in cm): 5th internode Ø2.0 w=6; 11th internode Ø2.0 w=4. Internodes towards the culm base are with a small lacuna and are finally filled with pith appearing solid.

Cultivation requirements: A strong grower, does well in full sun, soil normal moisture-retentive with good drainage.

Provisional identification: Not yet attempted. It seems more likely a species of Dendrocalamus than Gigantochloa. The species is similar to Dendrocalamus giganteus, and similar to phai sang mon, an unidentified Dendrocalamus species from Thailand.