Lingnania affinis

Lingnania affinis (Rendle) Keng f., Acta Phytotax. Sin. 19 (1), 1981: 141.

    • Synonyms: Dendrocalamus affinis Rendle, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 36, 1904: 447; Sinocalamus affinis (Rendle) McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. No. 9, 1940: 67; Bambusa emeiensis L. C. Chia & H. L. Fung, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 18 (2), 1980: 214; Neosinocalamus affinis (Rendle) Keng f., J. Bamboo Res. 2 (2), 1983: 12.

    • Thai name: No known records.

    • Chinese names: 慈竹 (cí zhú); 钓鱼慈竹 (diào yú cí zhú).

    • Distribution: THAILAND: introduced, in cultivation, rare. — CHINA (South, Central): Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, in river valleys and hilly areas at 800–2,100 m altitude.

    • Description: "Culms 5–10(–12) m, 5–8 cm in diam., apically long pendulous; internodes 15–30(–60) cm, initially stiffly pale brown strigose; wall 8–12 mm thick; nodes flat. Branches absent from lower nodes, many from mid-culm, central ones slightly prominent. Culm sheaths deciduous, leathery, both pale pubescent and dark brown spinous-hairy, apex concave; auricles minute or absent; ligule 2–5 mm, fimbriate; blade reflexed or horizontal, base 1/3–1/2 as wide as sheath apex, both surfaces hispid. Leaves variable in size; sheaths glabrous; ligule truncate, 1–1.5 mm; auricles and oral setae absent; blade narrowly lanceolate, 10–30 × 1–3 cm. … [flowers and seeds described] … New shoots Jun–Sep, fl. Jul–Sep. 2n = 76*." — Flora of China, as "Bambusa eimeiensis", accessed 11 July 2020 [#1303].

    • Images: Line drawing in Flora of China (1), and Flora of China (2) (both, vegetative and generative parts) [#1303]. Photos in AsianFlora, as "Neosinocalamus affinis" [#1332].

    • Comments: Vegetative characteristics similar to Lingnania, flowers (spikelet structure) similar to Dendrocalamopsis, seeds similar to Lingnania.

Plantation of Lingnania affinis in China, aka Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa emeiensis — by courtesy of Lihua Jiang, Yunnan Bamboo, China

Lingnania affinis (BT0000-08) aka Bambusa emeiensis: Branches (left), culm-leaf (right)

    • Specimen: BT0000-08 [BBG] (living plant), as "Bambusa emeiensis" from cultivated stock from R. S., Tropical Bamboo, Florida, USA, received by ธ. บ. about 2015.

    • Specimen: BS-0644 [-] (seeds), from FMXG, Yunnan, China, as "Neosinocalamus affinis, 慈竹 (cí zhú)" [Lingnania affinis, syn. Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa emeiensis], collected in 2011, and received 19 May 2011 (BS-0644), and re-collected in early May 2014, but were not received.

    • Seed weight: Not recorded.

    • Seed viability: Viability does not last long, perhaps a few weeks only, and the seeds should stay moistened and not dry out (acc. FMXG).

    • Seed germination: None of the seeds germinated.

    • Comments: The seeds seem to be true Lingnania seeds; whether they are true Lingnania affinis (syn. Neosinocalamus affinis) seeds, or another Lingnania species is not known.

Seeds (BS-0644) of Lingnania affinis, aka Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa emeiensis