Bambusa beecheyana

Munro

Beechey bamboo, Silk-ball bamboo

Poaceae Edible: Shoots 48 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Source: Wikipedia

Bambusa beecheyana is a species of Bambusa bamboo.

Description

A medium sized bamboo. It forms clumps. It grows 5-12 m tall. The stems are 10 cm across. The tips hang down. The internodes are 34-41 cm long. They have a white powdery coating when young. There are several branches.

Edible Uses

The shoots are cooked and eaten; they are slightly bitter but can be blanched by mounding soil around new shoots to exclude light and reduce bitterness. The shoots are also canned commercially.

Traditional Uses

The shoots are cooked and eaten. They are slightly bitter.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant. It suits hardiness zones 9-12.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, China, Indochina, SE Asia, Taiwan, USA, Vietnam,

Cultivation

The soil should be mounded around the new shoots to exclude light and make them blanched so that they are not bitter.

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in containers as soon as it is ripe, preferably at a temperature around 20°c. 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.

Other Information

It is commercially grown for bamboo shoots in southern China. They are also canned. It is a cultivated food plant.

Notes

There are about 120 Bambusa species. They are tropical and subtropical in Asia.

Synonyms

Sinocalamus beecheyanus (Munro) McClureSinocalamus beecheyanus var. pubescens P. F. Lei

References (12)

Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 36
Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 53
Creasey, R., 2000, The Edible Asian Garden. Periplus p 22
Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 46 (As Sinocalamus beecheyana)
Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 37

Show all 12 references

http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/sorting/Bamboos_Edible.html (As Sinocalamus beecheyana)
Hu, Shiu-ying, 2005, Food Plants of China. The Chinese University Press. p 284
Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26:108. 1868
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)
Valder, P., 1999, The Garden Plants of China. Florilegium. p 95
Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 91
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew