峨热竹 e re zhu

Bashania spanostachya T. P. Yi, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 11: 35. 1989; Sarocalamus spanostachyus (T. P. Yi) Stapleton.

Culms (0.5–)1–3.5 m, 0.6–1.2 cm in diam.; internodes initially green, yellow when old, purple spotted, cylindrical, 13–18(–24) cm, initially slightly glaucous, glabrous; wall 3–4 mm thick, pith initially lamellate, later coarsely powdery; nodes flat; intranode 1.5–3 mm; sheath scar slightly prominent, glabrous. Culm sheaths persistent, yellow, glabrous or adnately setose; auricles absent; oral setae rarely present, 4–6 mm; ligule purple, arcuate, ca. 1 mm, glabrous; blade initially gray-green or purplish, smooth or sometimes rugose, glabrous, margin entire. Leaves 2–4 per ultimate branch; sheath green-purple, glabrous, margins smooth; auricles absent; oral setae 1 or 2, 2–5 mm; ligule purple, truncate, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous; pseudopetiole purple, 0.8–1.5 mm, glabrous; blade linear-lanceolate, (2.2–) 3.3–6.7 × 0.4–0.8 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 2- or 3-paired, base broadly cuneate, one margin serrulate, other margin remotely serrulate or nearly entire, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose; rachilla internodes 3.5–5 mm, setose; pedicel 2–6(–11) mm, slender; florets 4–6, purple. Glumes 2, glabrous; lemma ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or setose, long mucronate; palea 2-cleft; lodicules rhombic-lanceolate, margins ciliolate. Anthers purple. Ovary light yellow, ellipsoid, glabrous; style 1; stigmas 3. Fruit unknown. New shoots and fl. May.

* Dominating undergrowth of Abies georgei and Rhododendron forests; 3200–3900 m. SW Sichuan.

The culms are often used as brooms. The plant also provides winter forage for cattle and is important for water and soil conservation in fragile alpine regions.