Black Bamboo. Giant Black bamboo
Gigantochloa atroviolacea

Family: Poaceae

What it is like

Gigantochloa atroviolacea is an evergreen Bamboo growing to 12 m (39ft) by 4 m (13ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 12

Where it is found

Not known in a truly wild situation.

Only known from cultivation, its origin is unknown.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Indonesia, SE Asia, Singapore, USA

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

The young shoots are edible, turning yellow-pinkish after cooking.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 3

The thin culm has specific features that make it suitable for the manufacture of the famous bamboo musical instruments angklung, calung, gambang and celempung. In the past the culms were exclusively used for this purpose, but the peculiar blackish culms have now also caught the attention of the handicraft and furniture industries, so that at present most of the culms disappear into these industries, creating a shortage of material to make musical instruments.. The culms grow up to 12 metres tall, they are 6 - 8 cm in diameter at the base, the wall is up to 8 mm thick, with internodes up to 40 - 50 cm long. The canes are dark green when young, turning greenish to dark brownish-purple with age, with distinct pale or whitish rings at the nodes, covered by dark brown glabrescent hairs.

Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels

Management: Managed Multistem: Regularly removing some multiple stems. A non-A non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Management: Managed Multistem: Regularly removing some multiple stems. A non-A non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Grows well in the perhumid lowland tropics, with an annual rainfall of 1,500 - 3,700 mm, relative humidity of over 70% and average temperature of 20 - 32°c. In Java it occurs mostly on red and reddish-brown latosols and lateritic soils, but it prefers drier limestone soils. In dry areas the purplish colour of the culms is more prominent. A slow growing bamboo, usually only 1 - 2 young shoots arise from the rhizome at the base of an old culm so that clumps are usually smaller than those of other bamboos. However, it has been recorded that 2 years after planting 15 culms can be present. Bamboos have an interesting method of growth. Each plant produces a number of new stems annually - these stems grow to their maximum height in their first year of growth, subsequent growth in the stem being limited to the production of new side branches and leaves. In the case of some mature tropical species the new stem could be as much as 30 metres tall, with daily increases in height of 30cm or more during their peak growth time. This makes them some of the fastest-growing species in the world. Culms reach their maximum length within 5 months. The average growth rate is about 9 cm per day. Culm size increases with the age of the clump; average height is 3 metres in the first year after planting, 6.4 metres in the 2nd and 9.3 metres in the 3rd; average diameter increases from 2.2 cm in the first year, 5.5 cm in the 2nd, to 7.6 cm in the 3rd year after planting. Harvesting may start 4 - 5 years after planting. It is recommended to harvest only in the dry season. The average yield of mature clumps is estimated at 20 culms per 3 years (or with 200 clumps per ha, about 4000 culms per ha every 3 years). Traditionally, harvested culms are immersed in running or stagnant water for 15 - 30 days and then air dried. Chemical preservation is possible by soaking the culms in a 5% borax solution for 3 days. Penetration in the walls of whole culms is about 50% for borax. Branching starts by the formation of some rudimentary branches at the first node from below. Then branching continues at about the 10th node from the top, followed by the next two nodes down, and then development continues both up and down the culm from this area until branches have been produced from all nodes situated higher than 2 - 3 metres from the ground. Bamboos in general are usually monocarpic, living for many years before flowering, then flowering and seeding profusely for a period of 1 - 3 years before usually dying.

Propagating it: This species is only propagated vegetatively. Rhizome or culm cuttings. In an experiment in Indonesia, 1-noded, 20 cm long cuttings of one-year-old culms were used in a nursery protected against heavy rains. Survival rate was 60%. Transplanting to the field was carried out about one year later, when the plants were about 75 cm tall.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Bamboo

Hardiness: 9-11

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Awi hideung, Bambu hitam, Clumping bamboo, Pring wulung

Synonyms

Gigantochloa atter nigra Gamble

Black Bamboo. Giant Black bamboo Gigantochloa atroviolacea