Gigantochloa levis

Synonyms: Bambusa levis Blanco; Dendrocalamus curranii Gamble; Gigantochloa scribneriana Merr.; Gigantochloa heteroclada Stapf.

Thai name: No known records.

Chinese name: 毛笋竹 (máo sǔn zhú).

English names: Bolo Bamboo; Poring Bamboo.

Distribution: THAILAND: introduced, in cultivation, rare. — MALAYSIA (Peninsular and Borneo), cultivated. — INDONESIA: Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan. — BRUNEI. — PHILIPPINES. — CHINA (South): southern Yunnan, and cultivated in Taiwan. — In lowlands, occasionally up to 1,000 m altitude, along creeks and riverbanks; grows well in degraded forest land; often planted. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: 35 map [#1342].

Culm size: Height 8–15 (20) m, diameter 9–13 cm.

Descriptions:

(1) "Culms up to 15 m. by 10 cm. thick, straight, upper part of the internodes hairy when young, dark green and smooth with age, the lower nodes swollen and root-bearing; culm-sheaths truncate at the top, densely dark-hairy all over when young, up to 30 cm. long; blade dark purple on lower sheaths, reflexed, narrow, contracted at the base and hairy on the upper surface towards the ligule; auricles 0.7 to 1.2 cm. high with a few marginal bristles; ligule large membranous, lacerated, bristly, up to 2 cm. high; leaf-blades up to 30 x 4 cm. or larger, finely hairy below; auricles distinct, with bristles 4 mm. long; ligule short, toothed. …" — H. B. Gilliland & al., Revised Flora of Malaya, vol. 3, 1971: p. 33 [#1039].

(2) "… Culms 8–15 m, 9–13 cm in diam.; apically drooping; internodes 30–45 cm, initially with brown to white hairs; wall ca. 2.5 mm thick. Culm sheaths deciduous, broadly flabellate, thickly leathery, apex narrow, brown setose; auricles conspicuous, undulate; oral setae 5–7 mm; ligule 6–15 mm, serrulate; blade usually reflexed, ovate-triangular, 9–13 cm, basally with brown setae on both sides. Ultimate branches with 6–10 leaves. Leaf sheath gray setose; ligule ca. 1 mm; blade 15–25 × 1.8–3 cm, abaxially glabrous, adaxially white hairy. Inflorescence unknown …" — Flora of China [#1303].

(3) "… Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 1500–2000 cm long; 100 mm diam.; woody; with aerial roots from the nodes. Culm-internodes terete; hollow; 20–45 cm long; dark green; distally glabrous, or pubescent. Lateral branches dendroid. Buds or branches absent from lower quarter of culm. Culm-sheaths 15–30 cm long; hispid; with dark brown hairs; truncate at apex; auriculate; with 7–12 mm high auricles; setose on shoulders; shoulders with 10–15 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 15–20 mm high; fimbriate. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; narrower than sheath; reflexed; pubescent. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate; 4 mm long. Leaf-sheath auricles erect; 7 mm long. Ligule an eciliate membrane; erose. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 15–30 cm long; 20–40 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface puberulous; hairy abaxially … [flowers and seeds described]" — Kew GrassBase [#1335].

(4) "Densely tufted, sympodial bamboo. Culm erect, up to 20 m tall, diameter up to 16 cm or possibly slightly more, plain green; nodes not conspicuously swollen; internodes up to 45 cm long, densely dark-hairy all over at the base of the culm, otherwise scattered dark-hairy on the upper parts, without any conspicuous white waxiness. Branches at each midculm node arising from a single bud consisting of a dominant primary branch, with usually one subdominant secondary branch from its base on each side, and several lesser leafy branchlets from the base of secondary branches. Culm sheath broadly triangular, 19–34 cm long, pale to medium green, with dark brown hairs on the back; blade broadly lanceolate, green, spreading to reflexed, hairy at base; ligule lacerate, the base 2–4 mm long, the lacerations 7–15 mm long; auricles large lobes to 10 mm long, with bristles 5–20 mm long on the margin, dark green to purplish green. Young shoot slightly triangular in outline, brown-green to green, covered with dark brown hairs, with green tips. Leaf blade 8–35 cm × 2–7 cm, lower surface short pale-hairy; ligule a subdentate rim-like structure 0.5–1.5 mm long; auricles small lobes with fine bristles to 4 mm long on the margin. … [flowers described, seeds unknown]." — K. M. Wong in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 109-111, fig. [#1226].

(5) E. A. Widjaja, Revis. Malesian Gigantochloa, 1987: p. 353-357, fig. 26-27 [#1224].

(6) KewScience POWO, accessed 23 Aug. 2020 [#1305].

Images: Photos in BambooWeb.info [#1340]; photo of the type specimen in Kew Herbarium (leaves, flowering branch) [#1333].