BAMBOOS 



DENDROCALAMUS 

 STRICTUS 



THE INDIAN BAMBOOS 



Baskets of 

 Darjeeling and 

 Assam. 



Edible Shoots. 



Cigarette 

 Wrappers. 



Tea-shade. 



D.E.P., 



iii., 72. 



Water-pail 



Bamboo. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 72. 

 Stinging 

 Bamboo. 



Sikkim 



Milk-pail 



Bamboo. 



Churns. 



Poison. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 72-80. 

 Male 

 Bamboo. 



Habitat. 



Many Uses. 



Charcoal. 



Fodder, 

 rood-grain. 

 Shoots Edible. 



buted westward to the Sutlej, though beyond Nepal it is doubtfully indigenous. 

 The culms run from 40 to as much as 80 feet in height and from 4 to 6 inches 

 in diameter ; the nodes are marked with root-scars, the internodes are 12 to 20 

 inches in length, and the walls half an inch thick. It is the common bamboo of 

 Darjeeling, the Duars and Assam, and is universally employed for all kinds of basket 

 and mat work. For building purposes it is not much esteemed. The young shoots 

 are eaten as a vegetable, and in Assam a specially prepared substance known 

 as gasa-tenga is eaten as a luxury (Hooper, Kept. Labor. Ind. Mus., 1905-6, 37). 

 The inner layer of the culm-sheath is utilised for covering Burmese cigarettes. 



Referring to its straggling habit, Mr. Oliver says : " When they have no treos 

 to support them, the main stems bend over, forming impenetrable thickets, and 

 the lateral branches ascend vertically, often forming shoots nearly as long as the 

 main stems." Mr. Manson alludes to the value of this species to the tea-planters 

 of Darjeeling district in shading their plantations from hot and violent winds. 

 [Of. Agri. Ledg., 1896, No. 27, 245, 260; Kanjilal, For. School Circ. U. Prov., 1901, 

 369 ; For. Admin. Rept. Assam, 1896-7, 14.] 



D. Hookeri, Mum-o. Th. seiat, ussey, sejsai, sijong, denga, ukotang, patu, 

 tili, Icawa ule. A large bamboo with long curving branches, met with in 

 the Khasia and Jaintia hills, alt. 2,000 to 5,000 feet, in the Daphla hills, also 

 Sikkim, and is distributed to Bhamo in Upper Burma. The culms are from 50 to 

 60 feet high and 4 to 6 inches in diameter, walls about 1 inch thick and internodes 

 1 8 to 20 inches long. The culms are used in making water and milk pails (chungas). 



D. longispathus, Kurz. A large and handsome bamboo of East Bengal 

 and Burma, chiefly near streams. It is known as the khang, ora, tva-yu 

 and talagu. Wa-ya in Burmese means " Stinging Bamboo," a name given in 

 allusion to the irritating hairs on the sheath. The culms reach to 60 feet high ; 

 internodes 10 to 24 inches long and 3 to 4 inches in diameter, with the walls 

 half an inch thick. It often roots at the nodes, and the culm sheaths are papery 

 and more or less persistent. It is not much appreciated as a building material, 

 though used when better kinds are not available. [Cf. Madras Admin. Rept. 

 (numerous passages), 1888-9 to 1898.] 



D. sikkimensis, Gamble- The pugriany of Darjeeling, wadah of the Garo 

 hills and the tiria, vola in Nepal. A large bamboo, with csespitose stems and 

 few culms, but these 50 to 60 feet or more high and 5 to 7 inches in diameter. 

 It occurs on the hills of the North-East Himalaya Sikkim and Bhutan at 

 altitudes of 4,000 to 6,000 feet, also at Tura in the Garo hills, and is cultivated 

 in several localities. It is the largest and perhaps the most beautiful species in 

 Sikkim, where its thick culms are preferred for making the chungas (or pails) 

 in which water and milk are carried and butter churned. But the leaves have 

 the evil reputation of being poisonous to cattle and horses. 



D. strictus, Nees. This is the most common, most widespread and 

 most universally used of all Indian bamboos. It is the "Male Bamboo," the 

 bans, bans kaban, bans khurd, karail, mathan, mat, burn mat, salia bans, halpa, 

 vadur, bhiru, kark, Teal mungil, kibi bidaru, sadhanapa-vedru, kauka, myinwa, 

 etc. Is deciduous, densely tufted, gregarious, has strong often solid culms, 

 which average from 30 to 50 feet high and 1 to 3 inches in diameter. It occurs 

 on all moderately dry hills throughout India and Burma, except in Northern and 

 Eastern Bengal and Assam. In South India and Burma it reaches a large size 

 and has hollow culms, while in the drier Deccan hills and the Siwaliks it is smaller 

 but has nearly solid culms. Flowering is usually gregarious : the flowers appear 

 in the cold season, the seed ripens in June and is shed, but the husk remains. 

 After flowering, the plants die and are replaced by seedlings. 



Col. Doveton (Ind. For., ix., 529) gives an account of the Indian uses of this 

 bamboo in connection with the Central Provinces, that might be consulted as it is 

 characteristic of the species wherever found. Amongst other uses, he mentions 

 rafters and battens, spear and lance-shafts, walking-sticks, whip-handles, the 

 manufacture of mats, roofing, sieves, hand-punkahs, umbrellas, chairs, vessels 

 for holding grease and oil, bows, arrows, and cordage, etc., etc. When converted 

 into charcoal is in request for the finer smiths' work. The dry stems are also 

 used for torches and the production of fire by friction. The leaves are much 

 sought after as food for buffaloes and even for horses. The seed is used in times 

 of famine as a food-grain, and the young and tender shoots are also largely eaten 

 as vegetables (Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., 1903-4, ii., 29, 156, 196). In another 

 paragraph particulars will be found of the recent and highly interesting discovery 

 of manna (saccharon) seen on this species. [Of. Agri. Ledg., 1900, No. 17.] 



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