''Phyllostachys edulis'', the bamboo, or tortoise-shell bamboo, or (), ( ja, モウソウチク), () is a temperate species of giant timber

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 to China and Taiwan and

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

elsewhere, including Japan where it is widely distributed from south of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

. The ''edulis'' part of the Latin name refers to its edible

shoots In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the sp ...

. This bamboo can reach heights of up to . This particular species of bamboo is the most common species used in the

bamboo textile Bamboo textile is any cloth, yarn or clothing made from bamboo fibres. While historically used only for structural elements, such as bustles and the ribs of corsets, in recent years different technologies have been developed that allow bamboo fib ...

industry of China and other countries, for the production of

rayon Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...

. Moso is less cold-hardy than many phyllostachys, surviving at a reduced height down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15°C).

Ecology

''Phyllostachys edulis'' spreads using both asexual and sexual reproduction. The most common and well known mode for this plant is asexual reproduction. This occurs when the plant sends up new culms from underground rhizomes. The culms grow quickly and reach a height of or more (depending on the age and health of the plant). In mature individuals, the culms in young plants grow taller and wider in diameter as the general plant reaches maturity, but once the individual culm stops growing it will not grow again. ''P. edulis'' also flowers and produces seed, and it does so every half century or so, but it has a sporadic flowering nature rather than the synchronous blooming seen in some other bamboo species. The seeds fall from the mature culms in the hundreds of thousands and are quick to germinate. Mice, field rats and other rodents take notice of the bounty of seed, this results in the loss of many of the seeds, but within a few weeks the surviving few seeds would have germinated (see ''

Predator satiation Predator satiation (less commonly called predator saturation) is an anti-predator adaptation in which prey briefly occur at high population density, population densities, reducing the probability of an individual organism being eaten. When predati ...

''). The first culm from a seedling will not get much taller than a few inches at most, and may be as thin as , but with every new season of culms sent up from developing rhizomes, the grove of plants will grow in height and cane diameter. '' Polyporus phyllostachydis'' (Sotome, T. Hatt. & Kakish.), is a fungus species known from Japan, that grows on the ground on the living or dead roots of the bamboo.

Cultivation

Cultivars

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, ...

s include: * ''Phyllostachys edulis'' 'Bicolor' * ''Phyllostachys edulis'' 'Kikko' or 'Kikko-Chiku' (Syn.: ''Phyllostachys edulis var. heterocycla'') * ''Phyllostachys edulis'' 'Subconvexa' (Syn.: ''Phyllostachys heterocycla f. subconvexa'', ''Phyllostachys pubescens'' 'Subconvexa') * ''Phyllostachys edulis'' 'Nabeshimana', (Syn.: ''Phyllostachys heterocycla f. nabeshimana'', ''Phyllostachys pubescens f. luteosulcata'')

Cultivation in the United States

In 2016 OnlyMoso USA initiated large scale commercial farming of ''Phyllostachys edulis'' in the United States, in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, becoming the first entity to grow bamboo from seedlings in large scale in the US, including the development of nurseries to ensure a constant supply of viable plants for bamboo farmers.

Biochemistry

Compounds isolated from ''P. edulis'' include: *

Hydroxycinnamic acid Hydroxycinnamic acids (hydroxycinnamates) are a class of aromatic acids or phenylpropanoids having a C6–C3 skeleton. These compounds are hydroxy derivatives of cinnamic acid. In the category of phytochemicals that can be found in food, there ...

sIdentification and Antioxidant Activity of Novel Chlorogenic Acid Derivatives from Bamboo (''Phyllostachys edulis''). Mee-Hyang Kweon, Han-Joon Hwang, and Ha-Chin Sung, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2001, 49 (10), pp 4646–4655
/ref> ** ''p''-coumaric acid **

caffeic acid Caffeic acid is an organic compound that is classified as a hydroxycinnamic acid. This yellow solid consists of both phenolic and acrylic functional groups. It is found in all plants because it is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of lignin, one ...

ferulic acid Ferulic acid is a hydroxycinnamic acid, an organic compound with the formula (CH3O)HOC6H3CH=CHCO2H. The name is derived from the genus ''Ferula'', referring to the giant fennel ('' Ferula communis''). Classified as a phenolic phytochemical, ferul ...

Chlorogenic acid Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of caffeic acid and (−)-quinic acid, functioning as an intermediate in lignin biosynthesis. The term "chlorogenic acids" refers to a related polyphenol family of esters, including hydroxycinnamic acids ( caf ...

s **

chlorogenic acid Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of caffeic acid and (−)-quinic acid, functioning as an intermediate in lignin biosynthesis. The term "chlorogenic acids" refers to a related polyphenol family of esters, including hydroxycinnamic acids ( caf ...

(3-(3,4-dihydroxycinnamoyl)quinic acid) ** 3-O-(3'-methylcaffeoyl)quinic acid ** 5-O-caffeoyl-4-methylquinic acid ** 3-O-caffeoyl-1-methylquinic acid (, exact mass : 368.110732). * Flavones **

tricin Tricin is a chemical compound. It is an O-methylated flavone, a type of flavonoid. It can be found in rice bran and sugarcane. Glycosides * Tricin 4'-glucoside (Tricin-4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranaoside, CAS number 71855-50-0) * Tricin 5-glucoside (T ...

Antioxidant properties of major flavonoids and subfractions of the extract of ''Phyllostachys pubescens'' leaves. Guo, X. F., Yue, Y. D., Tang F., Wang, J., Yao, X. (2012). Journal of Food Biochemistry
/ref>''Phyllostachys edulis'' Compounds Inhibit Palmitic Acid-Induced Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1 (MCP-1) Production. Higa, J. K., Liang, Z., Williams, P. G., & Panee, J. (2012). PLOS ONE, 7(9), e45082.
/ref> ** 7-O-methyltricin **

Glycosylated Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not ...

flavones ***

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 '' Phyllost ...

***

isoorientin 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 Hawt ...

***

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. ...

*** 5,7,3'-trihydroxy-6-C-β-D-digitoxopyranosyl-4'-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside *** 5,3',4'-trihydroxy-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside *** 5,4'-dihydroxy-3',5',-dimethoxy-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside *** 5,7,3',4'-trihydroxy-6-C-(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl- →6-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1330347 edulis Flora of China Flora of Taiwan Flora of Japan Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière