''Bambusa blumeana'',
[J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, 1830 ''In: Syst. Veg. 7: 1343''] also known as spiny bamboo or thorny bamboo, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of clumping
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
occurring in
Tropical Asia
Tropical Asia refers to the entirety of the areas in Asia with a tropical climate. These areas are of geographic and economic importance due to their natural resources and biodiversity, which include many species of agricultural value. There are ...
.
This bamboo is known locally as: ''kawayang tinik'' in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, ''buluh duri'' in
Malay and ''tre gai'' or ''tre lá ngắn'' in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
[
]
Description
Culms (stems) of ''Bambusa blumeana'' are up to long and slightly arched. At the base they are up to thick with walls thick, or may be solid. The stem consists of a number of short sections separated by nodes. The main branches are borne on the upper half of the culms, those on the lower part being slender and armed with thorns. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate, and up to long, and one grows from each node, with the lower part of the leaf sheathing the stem.
Distribution and habitat
Where ''Bambusa blumeana'' originated is unclear, but it may have been native to Indonesia and Borneo. Its range now includes the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, southern China and Japan. It has also been introduced to Madagascar, Guam, and some other Indo-Pacific islands. Its natural habitat is hillsides, valley bottoms and stream banks, where it forms tangled thickets, at altitudes up to about . It tolerates acid soils, clay and occasional flooding, but not saline soils.
Uses
Young shoots of ''Bambusa blumeana'' are boiled and eaten as a vegetable, being harvested when they first emerge from the ground. The plant is used as a living fence between fields, as a windbreak around homesteads and to prevent erosion on river banks. The poles are useful as a lightweight scaffolding but are not durable enough for building construction; other uses include basket-making, furniture manufacture, parquet, toys, chopsticks and kitchen utensils. The culms of this bamboo, along with those of '' Dendrocalamus asper'', are the main source of bamboo pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
used to make
Make or MAKE may refer to:
* Make (magazine), a tech DIY periodical
*Make (software), a software build tool
*Make, Botswana, in the Kalahari Desert
*Make Architects
Make Architects is an international architecture practice headquartered in Londo ...
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...
.
''Bambusa blumeana'' is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant. Propagation can be from seed, but the plant only flowers once every few years, so seed is often unavailable. Clumps can be divided when new growth is commencing, or culms can be cut into sections and used as cuttings.
Gallery
Bambus blumean 160602-58955 ponr.JPG, ''Bambusa blumeana''s spines
Bambus blumean 170107-0114 jtg.JPG, ''Bambusa blumeana''s lower culms
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4853466
blumeana
Flora of Indo-China
Flora of Malesia
Plants described in 1830