''Phyllostachys nigra'', commonly known as black bamboo or purple bamboo ( zh, 紫竹), 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 ...

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, bu ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and is widely cultivated elsewhere. Growing up to tall by broad, it forms clumps of slender arching canes which turn black after two or three seasons. The abundant lance-shaped leaves are long. Numerous

forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

and

cultivars A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...

are available for garden use. The species and the form ''P. nigra'' f. ''henonis'' have both gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. The form ''henonis'' is also known as Henon bamboo and as

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

'Henon'.

Uses

It is used for

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

(timber), food, and musical instruments, among other things, in areas of China where it is native and also worldwide.

Phytochemistry

A 2008 study from

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

, in

, isolated several

flavone Flavone is an organic compound with the formula . A white solid, flavone is a derivative of chromone with a phenyl (Ph) substituent adjacent to the ether group. The compound is of little direct practical importance, but susbstituted derivatives, t ...

C-glycosides on black bamboo leaves, including

orientin Orientin is a flavone, a chemical flavonoid-like compound. It is the 8-C glucoside of luteolin. Natural occurrences Orientin is found in ''Adonis vernalis'', in ''Anadenanthera colubrina'' and ''Anadenanthera peregrina'', and in the ''Phyllostac ...

homoorientin Isoorientin (or homoorientin) is a flavone, a chemical flavonoid-like compound. It is the luteolin-6-C-glucoside. Bioassay-directed fractionation techniques led to isolation of isoorientin as the main hypoglycaemic component in ''Gentiana olivier ...

vitexin Vitexin is an apigenin flavone glucoside, a chemical compound found in the passion flower, ''Vitex agnus-castus'' (chaste tree or chasteberry), in the ''Phyllostachys nigra'' bamboo leaves, in the pearl millet (Pennisetum millet), and in Hawthorn. ...

and

isovitexin Isovitexin (or homovitexin, saponaretin) is a flavone. the apigenin-6-''C''-glucoside. In this case, the prefix 'iso' does not imply an isoflavonoid (the position of the B-ring on the C-ring), but the position of the glucoside on the flavone. Na ...

.Isolation and purification of four flavone C-glycosides from antioxidant of bamboo leaves by macroporous resin column chromatography and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Yu Zhang, Jingjing Jiao, Chengmei Liu, Xiaoqin Wu and Ying Zhang, Food Chemistry, 1 April 2008,, Volume 107, Issue 3, Pages 1326–1336,

References

External links

* * * * nigra Endemic flora of China Flora of Hunan Grasses of China Garden plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Asia {{Bamboo-stub