方竹 fang zhu

Bambusa quadrangularis Franceschi, Bull. Soc. Tosc. Ortic. 5: 401. 1880; Arundinaria quadrangularis (Franceschi) Makino; Phyllostachys quadrangularis (Franceschi) Rendle.

Culms erect, 3–8 m tall, to 2.5 cm in diam.; internodes obtusely 4-angled, 8–22 cm, sparsely coarsely scabrid, apically more densely so; nodes prominent, supra-nodal ridge raised at branching nodes, level at branchless nodes, lower nodes each with a ring of short, declined root thorns; sheath scar corky, initially with a fulvous, tomentose, minutely setose ring. Culm sheaths deciduous, shorter than internodes, papery, veins prominent, transverse veinlets purple-brown, margins ciliate; auricles, oral setae, and ligule absent; blade deciduous, subulate, 3–5 mm, articulate. Leaves 2–5 per ultimate branch; sheaths leathery, glabrous, margins apically ciliate; oral setae deciduous, erect, glabrate; ligule truncate, short, ciliate, with minute setae; pseudopetiole ca. 1.8 mm; blade elliptical to lanceolate, 8–29 × 1–2.7 cm, papery, abaxially initially pubescent, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 4–7-paired, tertiary veins 5–7, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose or paniculate, terminal ones slender, glabrous, subtended by persistent, gradually enlarged bracts. Spikelets (1 or)2–4, 2–3 cm, slender; florets 2–5, basal absent to 2 rudimentary. Glumes 1–3, lanceolate, 4–5 mm; lemma green, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, subequal to palea, papery, 5–7-veined; lodicules narrowly ovate. Anthers 3.5–4 mm. Stigmas 2.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan; cultivated in Europe and North America].

Although Tetragonocalamus angulatus and Chimonobambusa angulata are widely assumed to be synonyms of C. quadrangularis, it has been known for some time that they are actually synonyms of Bambusa breviflora, itself now considered to be a synonym of B. tuldoides.

The inclusion of Chimonobambusa quadrangularis in the IUCN Red List is surprising, considering its wide distribution and the rather minor differences from several other species described later in China.