Common Name:

General Information

Gigantochloa albociliata is an evergreen, clump-forming, perennial bamboo growing from 6 - 16 metres tall. The erect, thick-walled, woody culms are 15 - 70mm in diameter with internodes 15 - 60cm long. The plant can shed its leaves during dry seasons[, ].
The plant is commonly harvested from the wild as a source of food and materials for both local use and trade. In Thailand, the young shoots are also canned and exported to countries such as Japan. The plant is also grown as an ornamental in gardens[]. It is cultivated on a small scale for its canes, but no large-scale plantations exist, because rich natural stands are available[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Myanmar, Thailand.

Habitat

The plant is common in low elevation mixed forest, but does not enter savannahs[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Bamboo
Height	12.00 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Gigantochloa albociliata grows naturally in the dry tropical mixed forest at low to medium elevations. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range of 800 - 1,300mm, and the mean annual temperature is around 28°c[]..
Succeeds in well-drained soils of poor to medium fertility[].
Annual culm production in natural stands is 9 - 46 tonnes per hectare[].
A 6 year old clump raised from a rhizome cutting produced 27 culms with an average height of 10.5 metres (ranging from 5 - 16 metres), with an average diameter of 20mm (ranging from 10 - 30mm). A mature clump in a natural stand in Thailand can bear 50 - 60 culms[].
Bamboos have an interesting method of growth. Each plant produces a number of new stems annually - these stems grow to their maximum height in their first year of growth, subsequent growth in the stem being limited to the production of new side branches and leaves. In the case of some mature tropical species the new stem could be as much as 30 metres tall, with daily increases in height of 30cm or more during their peak growth time. This makes them some of the fastest-growing species in the world[].
Bamboos in general are usually monocarpic, living for many years before flowering, then flowering and seeding profusely for a period of 1 - 3 years before usually dying. This pattern can vary - sometimes flowering is sporadic, with plants flowering annually and not dying; at other times it is gregarious with all the plants in a specific species coming into flower at the same time. This species flowers both sporadically and gregariously. In Thailand, sporadic flowering is common whilst a flowering cycle of 30 years has been reported from Assam [, ]. Seeds from sporadic flowering are often not fertile[].
Normally, 3-year-old culms are harvested in a 3-year felling cycle, usually at the end of the dry season. Culms used for furniture need to be flexible and so are harvested when 2 years old, and cut close to the ground (the basal 1 - 2 metres is the most useful section because of the thicker wall), because 3-year-old culms are too stiff to bend and younger culms normally shrink during firing. Culms harvested at the end of the dry season are more resistant to borer attack[].
Young shoots for food are harvested in the rainy season[].
Traditional and chemical treatments are employed to preserve culms. Traditionally, culms are submerged in running water for 10 - 20 days. The culms are cleaned by rubbing with coconut husks or rice straw dipped in wet wood ash for a shiny surface, otherwise sandpaper is used. Chemical treatments include boiling the culms for 15 - 20 minutes at 95°c in a solution of 0.2% sodium carbonate or 0.1% calcium hydroxide, or at 80°c in a 0.3% copper sulphate solution. After the treatments, culms are washed with water, dried in the sun for 1 - 2 days, and stored in well ventilated rooms[].

Edible Uses

Young shoots are eaten as a vegetable[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The woody culms are used in light construction (cottage walls, frames of thatched roofs), as trellises for climbing vegetables, for fence construction (typical in western part of central Thailand), tool handles (basal culm parts), furniture (with proper firing culms can be bent like rattan), woven wares and as raw material for paper and board[].

Propagation

Seed -
Rhizome cuttings are planted, using portions of the culm 30 - 50cm long.
For small-scale planting seedlings are also collected from the forest.

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.

Name:

Email(Private):

Message:

Captcha: what is half of 6?