Bambusa blumeana
Bambusa blumeana, also known as Spiny Bamboo or Thorny Bamboo, is a tropical clumping bamboo native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Shoots from this bamboo species are edible and consumed as a vegetable.
Summary
| Height | 15 - 25 m |
| Diameter | 8 - 15 cm |
| Growth Habit | Dense Clumping |
| Climate | Tropical - Subtropical |
| Hardiness | -1°C |
| Origin | Indonesia - Malaysia |
Photos
Culms
Bambusa blumeana is a thorny bamboo with slightly arching green culms of 15-25 m tall. The internodes are 25-35 cm long, with 8-15 cm in diameter and an average wall thickness of 2-3 cm. At the base of the culms, wall thickness is mostly solid, especially in dry areas or poor soils. Lower culm nodes show a ring of aerial roots, with a gray or brown ring below and above the sheath scar.
Branches
Branches usually occur from the middle of the culm to the top, and have several to many clustered branches with 1-3 larger dominant branches that are markedly longer and thicker. Branches from the lower nodes are solitaire and densely interwoven with tough, sharp, curved thorns.
Leaves
Leaves are lance-shaped and on average 10-20 cm long and 12-25 mm wide.
Habitat
This bamboo species grows in humid or dry tropical areas along river banks, hill slopes, and freshwater creeks. It often occurs at low or moderate altitudes, usually up to 300 m (in Taiwan up to 1,000 m). On heavy or poor soils Bambusa blumeana develops near solid stems (at the base), and can tolerate flooding. The species prefers a low pH (5 - 6.5), heavy saline soils are not suitable.
Uses
Culms are used in construction, parquets, basketry, furniture, concrete reinforcements, kitchen utensils, handicrafts, chopsticks, hats and toys. Bambusa blumeana is also used as fuel if wood is scarce, as a raw material for paperpulp, and its edible shoots are consumed as a vegetable. This bamboo species also has great potential for the rehabilitation of marginal lands and can be used to border agricultural areas as living fences, as a windbreak, or to prevent erosion along streams.
Origin
Bambusa blumeana is native to Indonesian and Malaysia, but has been widely introduced in Southeast Asia; Thailand - Philippines - Vietnam - China - Japan.
