THE INDIAN BAMBOOS 



D.E.P., 

 v.,676. 

 Konkan 

 Bamboo. 



Umbrellas. 



D.E.P., 



iv., pt. i., 

 351. 



Creeping 

 Bamboo. 



Best Sikkim 

 Basket Bamboo. 



Hats. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 372. 



Semiscandent 

 Bamboo. 



Water-pails. 



Umbrellas. 



Pan.boxes. 



Mats. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 372. 



The Umbrella- 

 handled Bamboo. 



BAMBOOS 



THYRSOSTACHYS 

 SIAMKNSIS 



0. Stocks!!, Munro. The koda, ur sheme, etc., a slender bamboo of the 

 Konkan. Talbot (List Trees, etc., 1902, 348) says it is commonly cultivated 

 along the coast but is rare in the Ghat forests. It is a strong bamboo, used for 

 punting-poles, Native umbrellas and baskets. 



Pseudostachyum polymorphum, Munro; filing, purphiok, paphok, wachall, 

 bajal, tolli, ndl, bawa, etc. Large shrubby or semi-arborescent bamboo, has 

 culms arising singly from a long, creeping, jointed rhizome. Tall and branched 

 at the top only, thus often taking support from neighbouring trees. Young 

 shoots come away freely and are very straight. This species occurs in the 

 Eastern Himalaya, Assam and Upper Burma and ascends the hills (to alt. 5,000 

 feet), but is most abundant and prolific in moist valleys or tinder the shade of 

 trees. It is a very valuable bamboo, and in Sikkim is considered the best 

 sort for the basket-work used on the tea estates, etc. The culms are easily 

 split and the laths flexible and durable. It is also largely utilised in the manu- 

 facture of mats and for tying the rafters of huts. 



Teinostachyum Dullooa, Gamble. A moderate-sized tufted bamboo, 

 tending to become scandent. Occurs throughout Northern and Eastern 

 Bengal and from Bhutan through Assam, Sylhet and Chittagong to Upper Burma. 

 There are two forms (possibly two species), a large and a small. The follow- 

 ing vernacular names have been recorded for these : the larger form dolu, 

 dullooa, paksdlu, pogslo, wadroo, gyawa ; and the smaller silloh, bajail, thaik- 

 waba, etc. The culms are used as water -pails and in the manufacture of umbrellas, 

 also for basket and mat-work, and in the manufacture of the small boxes used 

 to carry pan. It is also employed locally for building purposes. Lewin (Hill 

 Tracts of Chittagong, 1869, 130) speaks of the large kind as much employed for 

 making the mats used in loading vessels with cargo. 



T. Wight!!, Bedd. The hiida, wontenulgi, etc., is a tall semi -scandent 

 bamboo found on the slopes of the Western Ghats from North Kanara to 

 Cape Comorin (alt. 3,000 to 5,000 feet). In North Kanara, according to Talbot 

 ^ 8t Trees, etc., 1894, 206), it is much used in the construction of temporary 

 bridges. 



Thyrsostachys siamensis, Gamble. This is called " The Umbrella-handle 

 Bamboo," or the " Monastery Bamboo " (= kyaung-wa) because of its being 

 commonly cultivated in the monastery gardens, especially in Kyaukse and 

 Meiktila. One of the most elegant of bamboos because of the regularity of 

 its nodes. It is csespitose and deciduous ; the culms become 25 to 40 feet 

 high and 1 to 3 inches in diameter; are straight and not branched till high 

 up but are covered with the persistent old sheaths. It is found in Burma 

 from Mandalay to Tenasserim ; also in Siam. It is largely exported from 

 Moulmein and used for umbrella handles, for which it is well qualified, being 

 light, strong and straight. [Cf. Mason, Burma and Its People (ed. Theobald), ii., 

 99 ; Firminger, Man. Oard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 321.] 



GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE PROPERTIES AND USES OF 



BAMBOOS. 



Uses. Few plants are more valuable to man, especially to the inhabitants of 



tropical countries, than the various species of the arborescent grasses 

 collectively denominated the Bamboos. The Flora of British India 

 describes 117 species as met with in India, and refers these to 15 genera. 



AH Bamboos of All bamboos may be viewed as of economic and industrial value, but the 

 lue ' majority do not differ very materially from one another. It accordingly 

 follows that a general statement of the properties and uses of the bamboos 

 collectively may be of value, especially when taken in conjunction with 

 the fairly detailed enumeration of the specific peculiarities of the better- 

 known forms already furnished. 



The Culm or Stem. It may be said that under most of the genera 

 indicated one or more species of gigantic or even arborescent grasses have 

 been described by botanists, each of which might popularly be called a 

 " Bamboo." Many authors, however, speak of Bambusa arundinacea 

 as " the Bamboo," an expression which is quite incorrect, since the Spiny 

 Bamboo of South and West India and Burma is by no means either the 



104 



Umbrellas. 



" The Bamboo." 



