02. Dendrocalamus stocksii (Munro) M. Kumar, Remesh & Unnikrishnan

Local names

Arunachal Pradesh- Kako/Hate,
Assam- Kako banh,
Manipur- Unap, Aotsü Nagaland- Aotsu; Sikkim- Choya Bans/Ban Bans/Dhungray bans,
Mizoram- Phulrua,
Tripura - Pecha,
Maharashtra- Chivari,
Mes; Karnataka- Konda,
Kerala- Oyi

General description

This is an extremely manageable thorn less, mid-sized bamboo species with great economic and socio-cultural importance found naturally distributed in Central Western Ghats from Kasargod (Kerala) to Ratnagiri (Maharashtra). Shrubs; stems glabrous or softly pubescent, slender, grey-green, solid; nodes with a softly pubescent ring. Leaves 10-20 x 1.2-2 cm, shortly petioled, tip setaceous, base rounded or cuneate, beneath glabrous or hairy, midrib narrow; nerves 5-6; sheath striate; ligule rather long, toothed. Spikelets 1 cm long, in globose heads spinescent, glabrous, fertile and sterile; empty glumes 2, ovate, mucronate, 5-7 nerved; flower glumes 2 ovate, subacute, dorsally mucronate. Anthers short, acute. Ovary ovoid, hairy; style long, slender; stigma 1, simple, plumose. Grain elongate, beaked. In recent times due to the scarcity of cane/rattan this species is increasingly been seen as a substitute in furniture industry due to its typical anatomical characteristics like the presence of non- predominant nodes, solid nature of culms and good culm wall thickness.

Habit and Habitat

Shrubby bamboo. Can be seen along the banks of rivers

Distribution

Coastal areas of Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka and Northern Kerala (Kasargode). Endemic to Central Western Ghats.

Uses

Construction material, Furniture industry, scaffolding, crafts, basket making, poles, stakes (tomato and fruit orchards) agricultural tools and structures.

‹ ›