Malay Dwarf Green
Bambusa heterostachya
Family: Poaceae
What it is like
An ornamental bamboo with a slightly weeping growth habit used as a living screen for privacy, as a windbreak and noise barrier. A great shade provider in an outdoor landscape.
Bambusa heterostachya is an evergreen Bamboo growing to 8 m (26ft) by 4 m (13ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9. 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, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 8
Where it is found
Often planted around villages, it is not known in a wild habitat
Southeast Asia - probalby Malaysia, though it has not been found in a truly wild situation.
Conservation Status: Status: Least Concern
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 0
Medicine
Rating: 0
Other
Rating: 3
An ornamental bamboo with a slightly weeping growth habit used as a living screen for privacy, as a windbreak and noise barrier. A great shade provider in an outdoor landscape.. Strips of the culm are used to make baskets and as tying material (e.g. to attach coconuts). The strong, straight, medium-sized culms are used as poles to harvest fruits and to pollinate flowers of oil palm.
Basketry: Plant used in making baskets and other items such as chairs. Includes plants that are only used as an ornamental addition.
Biomass: Provides a large quantity of plant material that can be converted into fuel etc.
Shelterbelt: Wind resistant plants than can be grown to provide shelter in the garden etc.
String: Plants that can be used for string or can be easily made into a string. See also Fibre. Plants for ropes may be included.
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.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Other Systems: Multistrata: Multistrata agroforests feature multiple layers of trees often with herbaceous perennials, annual crops, and livestock.
Other Systems: Strip intercrop: Tree crops grown in rows with alternating annual crops.
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.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Other Systems: Multistrata: Multistrata agroforests feature multiple layers of trees often with herbaceous perennials, annual crops, and livestock.
Other Systems: Strip intercrop: Tree crops grown in rows with alternating annual crops.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
How it is grown
The plant seems well adapted to a humid tropical lowland climate without a strict dry season. 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. 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. It has a very branchy lower section.
Propagating it: Seed - surface sow in containers as soon as it is ripe, preferably at a temperature around 20c. Do not allow the compost to dry out. Germination usually takes place fairly quickly so long as the seed is of good quality, though it can take 3 - 6 months. Prick out the seedlings into containers when they are large enough to handle and grow on in a lightly shaded place until large enough to plant out. Plants only flower at intervals of many years and so seed is rarely available. Division as new growth commences. Take divisions with at least three canes in the clump, trying to cause as little root disturbance to the main plant as possible. Grow them on in light shade in pots of a high fertility sandy medium. Mist the foliage regularly until plants are established. Plant them out into their permanent positions when a good root system has developed, which can take a year or more. Plants can be propagated vegetatively by rhizome, culm and branch cuttings. The propagules are raised in a nursery and after they have produced roots and developed rhizomes they are planted out in the field during the rainy season in pits filled with a mixture of compost and soil.
Best place to grow:
Habit: Bamboo
Hardiness: 10-12
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
Its other names
Local names
Synonyms
Bambusa diversistachya Munro Bambusa latispiculata (Gamble) Holttum Gigantochloa heterostachya Munro Gigantochloa latispiculata Gamble