AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Chris Stapleton Illustrations of the genera and species, with notes on identification, distribution, utilisation, and propagation BAMBOOS OF NEPAL: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Chris Stapleton Forestry Department, University of Aberdeen Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in association with Forestry Research and Information Centre Department of Forestry and Plant Research His Majesty’ s Government of Nepal Kathmandu Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on behalf of The Overseas Development Administration, London Forestry Research Programme, University of Oxford Published by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for The OverseasDevelopment Administrationof the BritishGovernment ForestryResearch Programme Universityof Oxford, Halifax House, 6 South Parks,Road, Oxford OX1 3UB All rights reserved.This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted,in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission from the copyright holders. Firstpublished 1994 Design, illustrations,and layout by the author, Cover by Media Resources, RBG Kew, Research for this guide and its production were funded by the OverseasDevelopment Administration,under research grantsR4195 and R4849. Field work was implemented by the ForestryDepartment of Aberdeen Universityin conjunction with the Department of Forestryand Plant Research of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. Illustrationsand camera-readycopy were produced at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Final editing and production were supported by the Anglo-Hong Kong Trust. ISBN 0947643680 Printed in Great Britainby WhitstableLitho Ltd. Contents CONTENTS Introduction 2 Identifying bamboos 4 Methods of propagation 6 Key to genera 10 Illustrated descriptions with keys to species Dendrocalamus 11 Bambusa 17 Thamnocalamus 26 Borinda 30 Ampelocalamus 34 Cephalostachyum 36 Drepanostachyum 38 Himalayacalamus 43 Melocanna 52 Yushania 54 Arundinaria 58 Checklist of species with authorities and synonyms 60 Glossary 63 Bibliography 64 Index 65 1 Bamboos of Nepal weaving of thin strips into all manner of INTRODUCTION baskets and trays, used for collecting, sorting, storing and transporting food crops and other products. AMBOOS are widely distributed B throughout Nepal, but they are The role of bamboos in soil more common in the eastern half of the conservation is very important in the country, from Dhaulagiri to the Sikkim Himalayas. Because of their dense border. In higher rainfall areas such as surface roots, bamboos can provide those around Pokhara and Ilam, a wider good protection against sheet and gully variety of genera and species can be erosion. The large mass of the rhizome found, as well as larger numbers of system can form an effective buttress, bamboo clumps. Temperate and sub- holding up terraces and road banks. In alpine genera which are more common combination with those tree species in Tibet and Bhutan can be found at which root to a greater depth, bamboos altitudes of up to 4,000m in eastern are now an important component of Nepal. Tropical species from Malaysia bio-engineering techniques in Nepal, and Burma extend into the Nepalese providing a low cost means of slope terai. stabilisation as well as useful products. Bamboos are widely planted on private Bamboos are harvested by thinning land, and they are also important minor older poles. The rest of the clump will forest products, several species being continue to protect the soil, and will systematically harvested on an annual produce new culms without the need for basis. While traditional uses continue to replanting. The new shoots appear at a use large quantities of bamboo, new uses time when most animals are not allowed to graze uncontrolled, in order to are also being developed, and substantial export markets remain to be protect field crops. They are also well explored. protected by tough sheaths with irritant hairs, and they grow rapidly, so that the There are very many uses for bamboo, tender shoot tips are soon out of the and it is treated as a multipurpose raw reach of grazing animals. In this way the material from which almost anything bamboo growth cycle is well can be made. Because bamboo is easy to co-ordinated with animal husbandry in split, even large culms can be converted the middle hills once clumps have into usable sections without anything become established, and bamboos will more sophisticated than a khukri. When continue to provide a sustained yield of used as whole sections, bamboo pillars poles and fodder on an annual basis for are extremely strong for their weight, considerable lengths of time. and sections of some species can be quite hard. Most bamboos, however, are The taxonomy of bamboos is quite flexible and not very durable, and they complicated, and it has been neglected for a long time. Bamboos are giant will be attacked by fungus and insects faster than timber from trees, so that grasses, but they differ from the smaller they need to be replaced on a regular grasses in many ways. They have woody basis, or adequately preserved. The culms, well developed branching, flexibility of softer species allows the specialised culm sheaths, leaf bases narrowed into thin petioles, and cyclical 2 Introduction flowering. For a long time taxonomists given. The important characters of each thought that the flowers were essential genus are illustrated. Individual species for identification, but now it is accepted are then described, showing how to that vegetative parts are also important. distinguish them from closely-related As some species may wait up to 150 years species, and giving some basic before flowering this makes it much information on distribution, uses, and easier to identify the different species. appropriate propagation techniques. There has recently beers a period of This information is not comprehensive, but it is hoped that once the different great confusion over the genera of small Himalayan bamboos. The species were species can be recognised in the field more accurately, it will be possible for originally all placed in the genus others to gather more useful Arundinaria. Over the last century, and during the 1980’ s in particular, many information on them. Garden species grown exclusively as ornamental in new genera were described in Japan and China. These genera were not always Kathmandu, such as Phyllostachys nigra clearly defined, and so were often not and P. pubescens are not included. recognised in other countries. Now that Many other species undoubtedly much snore information on Sino- remain undiscovered in less accessible Himalayan bamboos is available to the parts of the country. Western Nepal scientific world many of these new beyond Palpa district, areas of the terai genera are becoming more widely close to the Indian border, and most of accepted. However certain new genera the temperate forest areas are not such as Sinarundinaria have been shown covered. Hopefully most of the more to be the same as genera which had common species of the middle hills of already been named, so they are central and eastern Nepal have been rejected. A more stable system of genera included, and this guide can provide the is now recognised, and is it hoped that it basis for further studies. will not be necessary to make many No account of bamboos would be more changes to generic names. complete without some reference to Species are described in this guide to their peculiar flowering behaviour. allow positive identification in the field Scientists still do not know how these from vegetative material alone. It is plants manage to mark the passage of aimed at forestry and agricultural time, so that they can flower personnel rather than specialised synchronously after an interval of up to taxonomists, therefore the terminology a century or more. It is now known, is kept as simple as possible, and however, that species have different important features of each genus and flowering habits. Lengths of flowering each species are illustrated. Accurate cycle vary greatly between varieties and identification of species requires a little species, and not all species will die after detailed knowledge of the parts of flowering. Because identification has bamboo plants. Therefore the most been inadequate in the past, it is not yet important parts of the bamboo plant are possible to list the flowering habits of briefly described. The genera are each species, but hopefully this guide separated using a key which does not will allow better records to be kept in require flowers, and a full glossay is the future. 3 Bamboos of Nepal Culm sheaths at the culm base are IDENTIFYING BAMBOOS different from those higher up. They are broader and have shorter blades. To standardise descriptions, culm sheaths at o identify bamboo species the most eye-level on the large bamboos are important parts of the plant are the T taken. These are approximately ¼ of the culm sheaths. These are protective way up the culm. Smaller bamboos are sheaths around the stems (the stem is treated in the same manner, culm called a culm in all grasses), see fig. 1. sheaths from ¼ of the way up the culm The sheaths below the leaves (leaf from the base being described. sheaths) are also important, see fig. 2). At the top of these sheaths there is a New culm sheaths show the features projecting tongue in the centre called of the species best. Older sheaths often have parts that are missing or have the ligule, and ears on each side called rotted away, especially in hotter areas, auricles. The shape and size of the . ---- (pubescence) fig. 1- culm sheath fig. 2- leaf sheath auricles, and whether there are stiff and for this reason bamboos are easiest bristles on their edges are all important. to identify in the late summer and The shape, length and the type of edge autumn. In winter and spring care must on the ligule are also important.