龙头竹 long tou zhu

Bambusa auriculata Kurz; B. humilis Reichenbach ex Ruprecht; B. madagascariensis Rivière & C. Rivière; B. sieberi Grisebach; B. striata Loddiges ex Lindley; B. surinamensis Ruprecht; B. thouarsii Kunth; B. vulgaris var. striata (Loddiges ex Lindley) Gamble; B. vulgaris var. vittata Rivière & C. Rivière; Leleba vulgaris (Schrader ex J. C. Wendland) Nakai; L. vulgaris var. striata (Loddiges ex Lindley) Nakai.

Clumps rather open. Culms 8–15 m, 5–9 cm in diam., basally straight or flexuose, apically drooping; internodes deep green, 20–30 cm, initially thinly white powdery, stiffly pale brown strigose; wall slightly thick; nodes slightly prominent, basal several with aerial roots and rings of grayish white silky hairs below and above sheath scar; usually branching from lower nodes. Branches several to many, clustered, central dominant. Culm sheaths deciduous, ribbed-striate when dry, densely stiffly deciduously dark brown hairy, apex arched below blade, concave below auricles; auricles conspicuous, ascending, nearly equal in shape and size, oblong or reniform, 8–10 mm; oral setae curved, fine; ligule 3–4 mm, serrate, very shortly white ciliolate; blade deciduous, erect or deflexed, broadly triangular to triangular, base slightly rounded, ca. 1/2 width of sheath apex, abaxially sparsely stiffly dull brown hairy, adaxially densely stiffly dull brown hairy between veins, apex involute, sharply apiculate. Leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 10–30 × 1.3–2.5 cm, both surfaces glabrous. Pseudospikelets several, clustered at nodes, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, slightly flattened, 2–3.5 × 0.4–0.5 cm, apparently bifid; gemmiferous bracts several; florets 5–10; rachilla segments 1.5–3 mm. Glumes 1 or 2, abaxially shortly hairy near apex, apex apiculate; lemma 8–10 mm, abaxially shortly hairy near apex, apex apiculate; palea slightly shorter than lemma, keels ciliolate; lodicules 3, 2–2.5 mm, margins long ciliate. Anthers ca. 6 mm, apex penicillate. Style 3–7 mm, slender; stigmas 3, short.

Riversides, open forests. Yunnan [SE Asia; pantropical].

Two cultivars, Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata' (黄金间碧竹 huang jin jian bi zhu), with culm internodes yellow with green stripes, and B. vulgaris 'Wamin' (大佛肚竹 da fo du zhu), with culm internodes shortened and basally swollen, are widely cultivated in gardens and parks. Although they have been given varietal or even specific status elsewhere, they are recognized as cultivars here.

This species was incorrectly named by Aiton as Bambusa arundi-nacea Willdenow.