(JEN KIM \\l> SI'Ki'l 



4 



of II. It, 



iluralil(<. 



U 



D.E.P., 

 i., 394. 



Female 

 Bamboo. 



BAMBOOS 

 DENDROCALAMUS 

 HAMILTONII 



and i perhaps (In* MM>.I roiiiimin li.unl.nM m the rir<- cnuiitry of 

 Assam. It i, hnwtivrr. HMim-wli.it dillimlt to distinguish from J. 

 .in,| ill., i u,i |il. mts are consequently often much confused and the game 

 .1 ir names given to cither indiscriminately. It flowers gregariously over 

 l>li> aiviis. luit win^'ln llowi-ririL,' clumps ore not uniiHuul. The culms are 

 peaked with yellow ; thoy attain a height of from '20 to 70 feet and 2 to 

 n thickin-ss. They are regarded as strong, but not so much so as those 

 Roxburgh says that if seasoned in water they become fairly 

 they are soon devoured by a small K./-/.-/I >, bootle. Tho 

 culm* are used for building purposes, roofing, scaffolding, making mats and 

 baskets, fans, window-blinds, etc., and when young are pickled and eaten. 



B. vulgarls, Sfhraa. In Bengal this is the basini or bdnsini, that is " Female 

 Hainboo " a name which in South India is also given to u. urn mil miff a. 



-r parts of the country it is the Golden or Yellow Bamboo, baridla, sun- 

 . kulluk, or kallak, or vansa-kulaka, kulna, una, wanet, etc. This cosmo- 

 >!it <in species is cultivated and runs wild over the warmer parts of India and 



la ; its original country is uncertain, but it is found in Java, Mauritius, Habitat 



scar, Algeria, the West Indies, Mexico and Central and South America, 

 jtc., etc. The culms are bright green or striped green and yellow, polished, 

 ing. They attain a height of from 20 to 50 feet with a diameter of from 2 to 

 -i. The nodes are hardly raised but have a ring of brown hairs. The species 

 used chiefly in basket-making and to some extent in house-construction. Basket-making. 

 [C/. Lisboa, Bomb. Grasses, 1896, 140 ; Talbpt, List Trees, etc., 1902, 347 ; Firmin- 



Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 321.] 



Cephalostachyum capitatum, Munro. The gobia, gope, payong, siUea, 

 etc. A shrubby semi-scandent bamboo found in the North-East 

 Himalaya and in the Khasia, Jaintia and Naga hills. Is a graceful plant North- 

 \vhk-h often forms dense thickets. The wood is used by the Lepchas in pre- eastern 

 ference to that of any other kind (for making bows and arrows), and is also 

 regarded as good for baskets. The joints of the culms are often 2 feet long. 

 The leaves are employed as FODDER and the seeds are eaten in times of scarcity. 



C. pergracile, Munro. Is known as latang, madang, tinwa, kengwa, etc. 

 A deciduous arborescent bamboo common in Burma, and after < ! mf-- 

 i <ii a in u^ *tri<-firn is there, perhaps, the most abundant of all species. It 

 occurs also in Chota Nagpur and Assam and is being cultivated experimentally 

 in South India. The culms are largely used for building purposes, floating 

 timber and mat-making. In Burma the joints are employed for boiling the 

 kauknyin or glutinous rice, the effect being to produce a long mould of boiled 



rice which can be carried about and eaten on journeys. In Manipur I observed Cooking-pots. 

 my coolies invariably cooked their food in joints of green bamboo. The fact of 

 their being green and the presence of the fluid within, seemed to render the 

 fire incapable of burning these wooden cooking-pots. 



Dendrocalamus Brandisii, Kurz. This is sometimes confused with 

 it. itif/nnffUH. and, like it, is often called wabo. Its proper names are kyelowa, 

 wapyu, wakay, waklu, etc. Mr. Alpin (Rept. on the Shan State*, 1887-8) 

 calls it kyello bamboo. It is a lofty tufted evergreen species with ashy-grey 

 culms from 60 to 120 feet in length and 5 to 8 inches in diameter. It is found 

 the tropical forests of Pegu and of Martaban up to alt. 4,000 feet, chiefly on 

 Icareous rocks. It is said to flower sporadically and not to die off after flower- 

 ig. Nisbet (Burma under Brit. Rule and Before, 1901, i., 381) says the culms are 

 iployed for boat masts. 



D. giganteus, Munro. This truly gigantic grass is a native of the Malay 

 J eninsula but much cultivated in Burma, where it is known as wabo and in 



sam as worra. It is used in Burma for posts and rafters in house-building, 

 for carts, etc., and the joints for pails, boxes, flower-pots, etc. The large culms 

 ' )ften 120 feet long and 25 to 30 inches in circumference) are said to fetch 

 2-4 each, or in quantity, Rs. 150 to Rs. 180 per hundred. At the Colonial 

 id Indian Exhibition, London, I had extra fine culms cut into short lengths 

 id prepared as umbrella stands, when they readily fetched 5s. to 10. each, accord- 

 ig to size. [Cf. Varthoma, Travels, 1510 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 218-9.] 



D. Hamlltonll, Nees A Am. In the lower North-West hills this is 

 called chye ; in Darjeeling tama, poo, and pa-shing ; in Assam and Burma 

 kokwa or kakua, wah, pecha, fonay, wanoke, wabo-myetsangye, etc. It is a large 

 bamboo that flowers sporadically and also gregariously. It occurs in the North- 

 East Himalaya, Assam, Khasia hills, Sylhet and Upper Burma, and is distri- 



101 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 252 3. 



Species. 



Bows and 



Arrows. 



Fodder. 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 253. 

 Burmese 

 Species. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 71. 

 Kyello 

 Bamboo. 



Boat Masts. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 71. 

 Giant 

 Bamboo. 



Uses. 

 Prices. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 71-2. 

 Hill 

 Bamboo. 



