斑苦竹 ban ku zhu

Sinobambusa maculata McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. 9: 64. 1940; Arundinaria chinensis C. S. Chao & G. Y. Yang; A. kwangsiensis (W. Y. Hsiung & C. S. Chao) C. S. Chao & G. Y. Yang; A. maculata (McClure) C. D. Chu & C. S. Chao ex K. M. Lan (1981), not Hackel (1903); Pleioblastus kwangsiensis W. Y. Hsiung & C. S. Chao; P. longispiculatus B. M. Yang; P. maculatus var. longitubus Li & Wu.

Culms 3–8 m, 1.5–4 cm in diam., initially green, densely glaucous; internodes subcylindrical; nodes prominent, brown, yellow-green when old, densely hairy, with prominent setose sheath scar. Culm sheaths deciduous, brown-red, oily, glossy, slightly purple, with unevenly scattered brown spots, basally brown setose, margins without cilia; auricles absent or very reduced, brown, dotlike or ovate; oral setae few, erect or curved; ligule often truncate, dark brown-red, entire; blade pendulous, linear-lanceolate, slightly hairy, scabrous, remotely serrulate or nearly entire, revolute. Leaves 3–5 per ultimate branch, soon deciduous; sheath margin sparsely pubescent; auricles and oral setae absent; ligule truncate, 1–2 mm, hairy, margin ciliolate; pseudopetiole ca. 4 mm; blade lanceolate, 8.8–18.5 × 1.3–2.9 cm, base cuneate, apex elongate. Inflorescence paniculate; florets 8–15 per spikelet. Glumes 2; lemma lustrous; palea keels ciliolate; lodicules 3, subequal in size, ciliolate at apex. Ovary bottle-shaped, ca. 8 mm; styles ca. 1.5 mm; stigmas 3, plumose. Caryopsis ellipsoid. New shoots early May–early Jun.

* Often growing in dense forests, also planted as an ornamental. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan; cultivated northward to S Shaanxi.

The shoots are edible, but must be treated first. The culms are used for light duties; they are fragile and not suitable for weaving.