麻竹 ma zhu

Bambusa latiflora (Munro) Kurz; Dendrocalamus lati-florus var. lagenarius W. C. Lin; Sinocalamus latiflorus (Munro) McClure; S. latiflorus var. magnus T. H. Wen.

Culms 20–25 m, 15–30 cm in diam.; internodes 45–60 cm; wall 1–3 cm thick. Branches several, central branch dominant. Culm sheaths deciduous, thickly leathery; auricles small; ligule 1–3 mm, serrulate; blade reflexed, ovate to lanceolate. Leaf sheaths initially slightly hairy, becoming glabrous; ligule 1–2 mm, serrulate; blade oblong-lanceolate, 15–35(–50) × 2.5–7 cm. Pseudospikelets 1–7 or more per node. Spikelets 12–15 × 7–13 mm; florets 6–8. Glumes 2 or more, ca. 5 mm, margins ciliate; lemma 12–13 × 7–16 mm; palea 7–11 × 3–4 mm. Anthers yellow, 5–6 mm, apex mucronate. Ovary broadly ovoid; style white hairy; stigma 1. Caryopsis 8–12 mm.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan; cultivated in SW Jiangsu and S Zhejiang [Myanmar, Vietnam].

Two cultivars occur in Taiwan: Dendrocalamus latiflorus 'Subconvex' (葫芦麻竹 hu lu ma zhu), distinguished by its much smaller culms, 5–10 m, 4–12 cm in diam., with internodes 10–30 cm, basally congested and pear-shaped; and D. latiflorus 'Mei-nung' (美浓麻竹 mei nong ma zhu), with culms and branches yellow-green with green stripes and culm sheaths yellow-green to brown-green with several narrow, yellow stripes.