Bambusa blumeana     

Bambusa blumeana Schult.

Family       : Poaceae

Common Name : മുള്ളുമുള (Mal)

          : Spiny Bamboo (Eng)

Culms (stems) of Bambusa blumeana are up to 25 m (82 ft) long and slightly arched. At the base they are up to 15 cm (6 in) thick with walls 2 to 3 cm (0.8 to 1.2 in) thick, or may be solid. The stem consists of a number of short sections separated by nodes. The main branches are borne on the upper half of the culms, those on the lower part being slender and armed with thorns. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate, and up to 20 cm (8 in) long, and one grows from each node, with the lower part of the leaf sheathing the stem.

Culm : It 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 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.

Use: 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.

Distribution: Native native to Indonesian and Malaysia, but has been widely introduced in Southeast Asia; Thailand - Philippines - Vietnam - China - Japan.

Flowering Cycle : 20-30 years

Flowering & Fruiting : October -January