Neololeba atra
Neololeba atra (Lindl.) Widjaja, Reinwardtia 11 (2), 1997: 114.
Synonyms: Bambusa atra Lindl.; Dendrocalamus forbesii Ridl.; Bambusa forbesii (Ridl.) Holttum; Arundinaria cobonii F. M. Bailey; Arundinaria papuana Lauterb. & K. Schum.; Dendrocalamus papuanus (Lauterb. & K. Schum.) Pilg.; Dendrocalamus forbesii Ridl.; Bambusa forbesii (Ridl.) Holttum; Gigantochloa novoguineensis Rendle; Dendrocalamus multispiculatus Lauterb. & K. Schum.; Bambusa picta Lindl.; Bambusa prava Lindl.; Bambusa tenuis Munro.
Thai name: ไผ่โลเลบา (phai loleba).
Indonesian names: buluh loleba, loleba (Maluku, Papua).
English name: Iron Range Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND: introduced, in cultivation, rare. — PHILIPPINES: Mindanao. — INDONESIA: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Moluccas, West Irian Jaya (Papua). — PAPUA NEW GUINEA. — AUSTRALIA: Queensland. — In scattered locations in lowland rainforest, open sites, and vine thickets.
Culm size: Height to 8 (12) m, diameter 2–4 cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 12–25 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; 40–60 cm long; mid-green, or mid-green and yellow; concolorous, or striped; distally hispid. Lateral branches dendroid. Culm-sheaths 15 cm long; 2 times as long as wide; pubescent; with appressed hairs; with tawny hairs; truncate at apex; auriculate; ciliate on shoulders. Culm-sheath ligule dentate. Leaves cauline. Leaf-sheaths keeled; striately veined; pubescent. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base asymmetrical; with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.2–0.5 cm long. Leaf-blades lanceolate, or ovate; 25–30 cm long; 25–35 mm wide; stiff; dark green and light green; discolorous with last colour beneath; glandular. Leaf-blade venation with 16–24 secondary veins. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate; antrorsely scabrous. … [flowers and seeds described]." — Kew GrassBase [#1335].
(2) E. A. Widjaja, Spect. Indones. Bamboos, 2019: p. 102-105 [#1279].
Images: Photos in K. M. Wong & al., A subtribal classification of Malesian and Southwest Pacific woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae) informed by morphological and molecular studies, in Sandakania No. 22, 2016, p. 21 fig. 4A (node), 4B (branches) [#1248]; Flickr (habit, culms, leaves); BambooLand (habit, culms, leaves); BambooWeb.info [#1340]; E. A. Widjaja, l.c., 2019 (habit, young shoot, culm-leaf, foliage-leaves) [#1279]; photo of the type of Bambusa atra at Kew Herbarium (leaves, flowers) [#1333].
Uses: Culms for basketry and handicrafts, spears and arrowheads, waterpipes, and walls. Plants may be suitable as potted ornamental plants.
Cultivation requirements: Prefers some shade and moisture-retentive soil. Plants may tolerate 0 °C.
Neololeba atra (BS-0501): from left to right: Young shoot, young culm and culm-leaf, culm-node with branches, culm with a dried culm-leaf
Specimens: BS-0501 [†] (living plant), received from cultivated stock from Australia in 2010; BS-0480 [-] (living plant), received from Singapore Botanic Gardens in 2010.
Characteristics: Habit a tight clump. Rhizome pachymorph, short-necked. Culms slender, without lower branching. Culm internodes 30–60 (80) cm long, thin-walled. Branches 1–3 per upper node. Foliage-leaf blades large, 25–30 (35?) cm long, 2.5–3.5 cm wide.
Neololeba atra 'Hitam'
Thai name: ไผ่โลเลบาดำ (phai loleba dam). Indonesian name: loleba hitam.
Distribution: INDONESIA.
Characteristics: Culms black.
Comments: No records are known on whether this cultivar has been introduced into Thailand.