bamboo bamboo

98 Pages·2004·1.54 MB·English

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B A M B O O
The Amazing Grass

B A M B O O
The Amazing Grass
A Guide to
THE DIVERSITY AND STUDY
OF BAMBOOS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
KM Wong
Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden,
Institute of Biological Sciences,Faculty of Science,
University of Malaya
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI)
and
University of Malaya
2004
Text copyright ©International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI),
Regional Office for Asia,the Pacific and Oceania
P.O. Box 236,UPM Post Office,Serdang,
43400 Selangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia
and
University of Malaya,50603 Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
Photographs copyright ©as credited.
First published 2004
Layout by Cheng Jen Wai
Printed and bound in Malaysia
Front cover: Unfinished bamboo basket in a village in Nami, Kedah, Peninsular
Malaysia,its maker pensive.
Back cover: Clump division and rhizome offsets of Gigantochloa latifolia, near Alor
Setar,Kedah,Peninsular Malaysia,being taken for establishment in the Bambusetum of
the Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden,University of Malaya,an IPGRI-supported project.
IPGRI is a Future Harvest Centre
supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
iv
Contents
Foreword ..................................................................................................... vii
Preface ......................................................................................................... ix
Bamboos and Us.......................................................................................... 1
How bamboos are classified........................................................................ 7
Cultivated or wild,common or rare.......................................................... 9
Common bamboos ............................................................................... 10
Rare (and endangered) bamboos .......................................................... 13
The structure of the bamboo plant........................................................... 21
The stem ............................................................................................... 21
The branch complement ....................................................................... 24
Leaves and sheaths ............................................................................... 27
Flowering branches .............................................................................. 30
Flowers ................................................................................................. 32
Fruits .................................................................................................... 33
The flowering of bamboos........................................................................ 35
Identifying bamboos................................................................................. 39
Useful characters for identification ...................................................... 40
Southeast Asian bamboos......................................................................... 59
Identification key ................................................................................. 59
Conserving bamboos................................................................................. 67
The useful or potentially useful species ................................................ 67
Naturally rare or endangered species .................................................... 70
Important collections of Southeast Asian bamboos .............................. 71
Collecting bamboo specimens.................................................................. 73
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 76
References ................................................................................................... 77
Appendix:Selected facilities with living collections
of Southeast Asian bamboos ....................................................................... 79
v