早园竹 zao yuan zhu

Phyllostachys sapida T. P. Yi.

Culms ca. 6 m, 3–4 cm in diam.; internodes ca. 20 cm, initially white powdery, glabrous; wall ca. 4 mm thick; nodal ridge slightly elevated, as prominent as sheath scar. Culm sheaths faintly red-brown or yellow-brown, usually alternating with pale and deep colored stripes, with denser purple-brown spots especially distally, glabrous, distal margins usually straw-colored; auricles and oral setae absent; ligule brown, arcuate, sometimes slightly convex at middle, ciliolate; blade reflexed, abaxially pale purple-brown, adaxially green, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, flat. Leaves 2 or 3 per ultimate branch; auricles and oral setae commonly absent; ligule strongly exserted, arcuate, ciliolate; blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 7–16 × 1–2 cm. New shoots Apr. 2n = 48*.

* Cultivated. Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

The culms of this hardy species are used for weaving and for tool handles.