筇竹 qiong zhu

Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda (Hsueh & T. P. Yi ex Ohrnberger) Hsueh & T. P. Yi.

Culms 2.5–6 m, 1–3 cm in diam.; internodes green, terete, 15–25 cm, grooved above branches, glabrous; wall thick, basal internodes nearly solid; nodes conspicuously enlarged into very prominent, raised discs. Branches (3–)5(–7) per node, subequal. Culm sheaths deciduous, oblong-elliptic, thickly papery, brown setose; auricles absent; oral setae 2–3 mm; ligule arched, 1–1.3 mm, densely gray ciliate; blade readily deciduous, erect, subulate or subulate-lanceolate, 5–17 mm, glabrous. Leaves 2–4 per ultimate branch; sheath terete, 2–2.5 cm; auricles absent; oral setae several; ligule truncate or arched, short; blade narrowly lanceolate, 5–14 × 0.6–1.2 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 2- or 4-paired, transverse veins distinct. Flowering branches leafless or partly with terminal leaves; ultimate flowering branches slender, subtended by 3–5, gradually larger bracts. Pseudospikelet purple-green, 3–4.5 cm, bracts 4 or 5; florets 3–8. Glumes 2(or 3); rachilla internodes 4–6 mm, glabrous; lemma oblong-ovate, 1–1.4 cm, papery, apex acute; palea thinner than lemma, apex obtuse or slightly bifid. Ovary obovoid, ca. 2.5 mm, glabrous; style 1, ca. 1 mm; stigmas 2. Caryopsis nutlike, oblong-ellipsoid or broadly ellipsoid, 1–1.2 cm. New shoots Apr, purplish red, fl. Apr, fr. May.

* Hilltops; 1500–2200 m. SW Sichuan, NE Yunnan.

The name "Qiongzhuea tumidinoda" (Hsueh & T. P. Yi, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 2: 93. 1980) was not validly published because two types were indicated (see Hsueh et al., Taxon 45: 217–221. 1996 and Stapleton and Xia, Taxon 53: 526–528. 2004).

The culms of this famous species have been used for walking sticks since the Han Dynasty; they are also used for umbrella handles, and the shoots are eaten as a vegetable.