12 PHILIPPINE BAMBOOS 



DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES 



Genus ARUNDINARIA Michaux 



ARUNDINARIA N I ITAKAYAM ENSIS Hayata. Utod. 



Among the Igorots, this bamboo is known as utod. It is 

 the only representative of the genus found in the Philippines. 

 This species was originally described from the mountains of 

 Formosa, and is known only from Formosa and the mountains 

 of Luzon. It is locally very abundant, forming dense thickets, 

 at altitudes from 2,100 to 2,600 meters in the Mountain Province, 

 Luzon. This bamboo reaches a height of 2.5 meters, but in 

 unfavorable habitats is frequently only a few centimeters in 

 height. Its maximum diameter is about 1 centimeter. Its only 

 recorded use in the Philippines is for pipestems. A flowering 

 specimen is shown in Plate II. 



Genus BAM B USA Schreber 

 1. Culms unarmed. 



2. Small shrubby species 2 to 3 meters high with glaucous leaves. 



B. glaucescens. 

 2. Coarse species of tree size. 



3. Leaf -sheaths with rounded auricles B. vulgaris. 



3. Leaf-sheaths with hornlike, erect processes. 



4. Leaves large; spikelets glabrous; keels of the palea not 



prominently ciliate B. cornuta. 



4. Leaves small; spikelets densely hirsute; keels of the palea 



prominently ciliate B. merrillii. 



1. Culms spiny B. spinosa. 



The genus Bambusa is represented by five species, of which 

 at least three appear to have been purposely introduced. It 

 includes the most valuable single species of the entire group 

 in the Philippines. With one exception, all of the species have 

 large, tall culms. 



BAMBUSA CORNUTA Munro. Lopa. 



Common name: lopa (Isinai). 



Rare in the forests of Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet, known 

 also from Java. An erect bamboo reaching a height of 7 to 8 

 meters, and a culm diameter of 3 to 3.5 centimeters, with inter- 

 nodes 40 to 45 centimeters long. It is characterized by promi- 

 nent horns at the tip of the leaf sheath. A flowering specimen 

 is shown in Plate III. 



BAMBUSA GLAUCESCENS Sieb. KawAyan-China. 



Common names: kawayan-china, kawayan-sina (Tagalog). 

 Kawayan-china is a native of China or Japan and occurs 

 in the Philippines only as an introduced and cultivated plant. 



