Watho. Tabashir Bamboo
Gigantochloa apus

Family: Poaceae

What it is like

Gigantochloa apus is an evergreen Bamboo growing to 20 m (65ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a fast 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, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 20

Where it is found

Found in open areas, disturbed forest and on river sides on sandy or clayey soils

E. Asia - India, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, China, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Singapore, Thailand

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Young shoots - cooked. Very bitter. In Java the freshly cut shoots are buried in mud for 3 - 4 days to remove the bitter taste, before they are consumed as a vegetable.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 4

The culms are durable, 8 - 30 metres long, 4 - 13cm in diameter, with a thick wall up to 15mm thick and with internodes 20 - 60cm long. They are used as building material for roofs, walls, scaffoldings and bridges. The culms can be split into fine strips for weaving hats, baskets and other objects; when split fine and the pieces bent, the surface does not chip off. In the absence of more suitable species, it is sometimes used to make musical instruments, although the quality of the tones produced is inferior. It is unsuitable for making chopsticks or toothpicks mechanically, because it has overlapping fibres.

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.

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.

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

Prefers growing in the tropical humid low-lands, but also occurs on hill slopes at elevations up to 1,500 metres. Grows well in clay soils. When growing in drier areas, the culms remain smaller. One year after planting the vegetatively obtained propagules, about 10 - 15 culms will emerge; they are harvestable 1 - 3 years later, depending on the use. Annual yields of 1,000 culms per hectare can be obtained. 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. The plant flowers very rarely - in Indonesia, flowering may start 50 - 60 years after planting. When flowering, viable seed is produced that can be used for propagation. The overlapping of rhizomes in old clumps often raises the middle portion of the clump high above the ground. The culm size can vary considerably, leading local people to use different names for plants with different culm sizes.

Propagating it: Seed - Rhizome cuttings consist of fragments of young rhizomes bearing 1 - 2 culm buds. They are raised in a nursery and, when well rooted, are transplanted to the field at a spacing of 5 - 7 m2. Culm cuttings consist of culm segments or whole culms. Good results were obtained with one-year-old culm segments bearing 2 buds each. The cuttings are set upright or at an angle, with the node well covered with soil. It is not advisable to propagate vegetatively from flowering clumps, as the new plants will also start flowering soon after planting.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Bamboo

Hardiness: 9-11

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

Bambu apus, Bambu tali, Clumping bamboo, Goba-wa, Mai lai, Wa-do

Synonyms

Bambusa apus Schult. & Schult.f. Gigantochloa kurzii Gamble