''Neololeba atra'', the black bamboo, is a species of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

n, Australian, and

Papuasia Papuasia is a Level 2 botanical region defined in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in the Melanesia ecoregion of Oceania and Tropical Asia. It comprises the ...

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, ...

s in the grass family Poaceae.

Habit

Black bamboo is a short, small-culmed, green bamboo species 5–7 m high. It forms impenetrable thickets with densely clustered clumps with a large number of closely growing culms. It is native to 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 ...

, Sulawesi, Maluku,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

, and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It is an exotic species in

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

countries, such as

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 ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Appearance

Culms are dark green when young, and become yellowish-green when mature and brownish-green when dry. Young shoots are also green. Internode length is 60–80 cm and diameter is about 2.5 to 5.0 cm. Culm walls are very thin. Nodes are not prominent. Branching occurs only at the top and no aerial roots can be seen. Culm sheaths are green in young plants, becoming straw-colored when mature. Culm sheath blades are flame-shaped. The sheath proper is 9–12 cm long and 6–9 cm wide. Auricles are equal, small, and wavy, continuous with the blade, which is situated on top of the sheath. Upper surfaces of the culm sheaths are covered with light brown hairs. Under surfaces are not hairy. Sheaths fall off early.

Uses

In Indonesia, strips of the black bamboo are used to make window blinds and the leaves are used for thatching.

References

The Plant List
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15518272 Bambusoideae