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2. BAMBUSA

 

A genus containing large bamboos up to 26m in height, as well as several smaller species less than 12m in height. These clump-forming bamboos are similar to Dendrocalamus species, but they are generally smaller, with straighter culms and thicker culm walls. The leaves are smaller, and the new culms usually have a thin pale waxy covering rather than dense furry wax. The branches are more uniform in size. Central branches are usually less than 5cm in diameter (fig. 11), so that propagation  from culm  cuttings can  be  difficult. 

 

 

Branches are often found right to the base of the culm, and they are thorny in some species. The flowers are in spiky inflorescences (fig. 10 cf. fig. 6), and the bracts at the inflorescence base are broad and have two ciliate keels (fig. 12 cf. fig. 8). The species are tropical to subtropical in distribution, occurring up to 1,600m. They provide a very important source of construction material in warmer areas of central, eastern and southern Bhutan, and are also used to make bows for archery, and can also be woven into rough mats.

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