''Melocanna'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of Asian 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, bu ...

in the

grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

. The 48-year cycle of '' M. baccifera'' in northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

is responsible for the phenomenon called "''

mautam ''Mautâm'' is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48–50 years in the northeastern Indian states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, as well as in many places of Assam which are 30% covered by wild bamboo forests, and Chin State in ...

''" or "

bamboo death ''Mautâm'' is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48–50 years in the northeastern Indian states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, as well as in many places of Assam which are 30% covered by wild bamboo forests, and Chin State in ...

", in which large populations of bamboo flower at the same time, this being followed by a plague of

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

s, which in turn triggers a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

within the human populations. ;SpeciesKew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>The Plant List search for ''Melocanna''
/ref> # ''

Melocanna arundina ''Melocanna'' is a genus of Asian clumping bamboo in the grass family. The 48-year cycle of '' M. baccifera'' in northeastern India is responsible for the phenomenon called "''mautam''" or " bamboo death", in which large populations of bamboo f ...

'' C.E.Parkinson –

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

; naturalized in parts of southern

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 ...

# ''

Melocanna baccifera ''Melocanna baccifera'' is one of two bamboo species belonging to the ''Melocanna'' genus. It grows up to 10–25 m tall. It is native to Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Thailand. Habit It is tall, small-culmed bamboo with greenish young culms an ...

'' (Roxb.) Kurz - Nagaland,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

; sparingly naturalized in parts of

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

;Formerly included see ''

Bambusa ''Bambusa'' is a large genus of clumping bamboos. Most species of ''Bambusa'' are rather large, with numerous branches emerging from the nodes, and one or two much larger than the rest. The branches can be as long as 11 m (35 ft). The ...

Cephalostachyum ''Cephalostachyum'' is a genus of Asian and Madagascan bamboo in the grass family. The plants are of small to medium size compared to most other bamboo. Their choice habitats are mountain to lowland forests. ;Species ;formerly included see '' ...

Gigantochloa ''Gigantochloa'' is a tropical Asian and Papuasian genus of giant clumping bamboos in the grass family. It is found in southern China, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and New Guinea. ;Species ;Formerly included see ''Bambusa Dendrocal ...

Nastus ''Nastus'' is a genus of slender, erect, scrambling or climbing bamboos in the grass family. It is native to Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and certain islands in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar and Réunion). ;Species ;formerly included see ''Arundi ...

Ochlandra ''Ochlandra'' is a genus of Indian bamboo in the grass family). The species are endemic to the Western Ghats (India), except for one species from Sri Lanka. ;Species ;Formerly included see '' Cathariostachys Nastus Schizostachyum Valiha ...

'', and ''

Schizostachyum ''Schizostachyum'' is a tall or shrub-like tropical genus of bamboo. They are natives mostly of tropical Asia and Papuasia, with a few species in Madagascar and on certain islands in the Pacific. A few have become naturalized in other tropical ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3310449 Bambusoideae Bambusoideae genera