慈竹 ci zhu

Dendrocalamus affinis Rendle, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 36: 447. 1904, not Bambusa affinis Munro (1868); Lingnania affinis (Rendle) P. C. Keng; Neosinocalamus affinis (Rendle) P. C. Keng; Sinocalamus affinis (Rendle) McClure.

Culms 5–10(–12) m, 5–8 cm in diam., apically long pendulous; internodes 15–30(–60) cm, initially stiffly pale brown strigose; wall 8–12 mm thick; nodes flat. Branches absent from lower nodes, many from mid-culm, central ones slightly prominent. Culm sheaths deciduous, leathery, both pale pubescent and dark brown spinous-hairy, apex concave; auricles minute or absent; ligule 2–5 mm, fimbriate; blade reflexed or horizontal, base 1/3–1/2 as wide as sheath apex, both surfaces hispid. Leaves variable in size; sheaths glabrous; ligule truncate, 1–1.5 mm; auricles and oral setae absent; blade narrowly lanceolate, 10–30 × 1–3 cm. Pseudospikelets 1.2–1.5 cm; prophylls 1-keeled; bracts 2 or 3; florets 3–5, with a terminal sterile floret. Rachilla internodes abbreviated, apical ones ca. 2 mm, falling together. Glumes absent or 1, 6–7 mm; lemma 0.8–1 cm; palea 7–9 mm; lodicules 3(or 4). Anthers 4–6 mm. Ovary ca. 1 mm; styles to 4 mm; stigmas 2–4, 3–5 mm. Caryopsis 7–8 mm. New shoots Jun–Sep, fl. Jul–Sep. 2n = 76*.

* River valleys, hilly areas; 800–2100 m. Guizhou, W Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan.

This is the most common species of bamboo cultivated on the Yunnan Plateau and adjacent provinces. It has been used for various purposes, from household weaving to agricultural tools, and for ornamental and soil-protection purposes. It is also of great systematic interest, with vegetative parts typical of Bambusa subg. Lingnania, while the spikelet structure differs from the rest of the subgenus, having characteristics of B. subg. Dendrocalamopsis.