Oxytenanthera abyssinica
(A. Rich.) Munro
Lowland bamboo, Savannah bamboo, Wine bamboo
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Description
A bamboo or grass. It grows 10-15 m high. It grows in dense clumps. The stem is solid. It is 8-10 cm wide at the base. It arches slightly at the tips. The sheaths are covered with short dark brown bristly hairs. These can be rubbed off. (They irritate the hands). The leaves are bluish green and narrowly sword shaped. They are 5-25 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. They taper to a spine tipped point. The flowers occur in 1-4 flowered spikes. The upper flowers are of both sexes. The lower flowers are sterile. The grains narrowly taper to both ends. After flowering the clump dies back to re-shoot from the base.
Edible Uses
Traditional uses of Oxytenanthera abyssinica include weaving for basketry, as a building material for local construction, houses and furniture, and in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in Iringa, Mbeya and Ruvuma Regions it is tapped for its juice, and fermented for the production of a local alcoholic beverage. However more recently the species has come under commercial production by EcoPlanet Bamboo. Using seed from the most recent flowering event this entity has used Oxytenanthera abyssinica for the regeneration of degraded agricultural lands in South Africa's Eastern Cape. Through EcoPlanet Bamboo's extensive R&D around this species and trials carried out to showcase its ability to restore degraded landscapes Oxytenanthera abyssinica has recently been touted by international institutions including the World Resources Institute as having a high potential for industrial production. Kenyan entity Kitil Farm has developed a resource base of Oxytenanthera abyssinica seedlings in Isinya.
Traditional Uses
The seeds are used as a rice substitute. The young shoots are eaten. They can be boiled, steamed, smoked, dried, or salted. The shoots can be burnt and the ash used as a vegetable salt. Sap from the stem can be drunk. It is also used to produce a fermented wine.
Medicinal Uses
A leaf-decoction is valued in the treatment of urinary problems, being prescribed for a lack of urine, as well as for too much urine, particularly in cases of diabetes. The decoction is also administered for generalised oedemas and albuminurea. The leaf and culm are reported to contain an (unnamed) alkaloid. The hairs on the culm sheaths are rubbed off and used as a wound-dressing. This is mixed with the rhizome pith, which has been cooked to a mash, and the whole thing is bandaged on the affected area. The rhizome is used in the treatment of dysentery. The seed is ground into a meal, together with other grain, and used as a tonic for small children.
Known Hazards
On ripening, the spiky seed heads may cause wounds which are unresponsive to treatment.
Distribution
A tropical plant. It grows in dense clumps on dry hillsides in Africa. It will re-grow after fires. It usually grows in high rainfall areas at low altitudes. In Zimbabwe it grows up to 1,160 m above sea level. It grows below 2,100 m above sea level. It is cultivated between 1,500 to 2,400 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.
Where It Grows
Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, India, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Cultivation
It can be grown by division of the roots. It can be cut back and will re-grow.
Propagation
Seed - it remains viable for 6 - 18 months if stored at ambient temperatures under dry and pest-proof conditions, and is said to germinate better if first stored for a few months. Seed can be sown in light shade in a nursery seedbed or in containers. Germination rates vary from 30 - 80%, with the seed sprouting within 11 days in warm moist conditions but up to 4 months in cool dry conditions. Plants are grown on in the nursery for 8 - 24 months, being planted out into their permanent positions in the early part of the rainy season when they have at least two shoots, the larger of which is 30cm or more long. Division of the rootstock is an easy method of propagation. Early in the rainy season, rhizome sections 12 - 30cm long bearing healthy buds, or the lowest 45cm of a stem, are excavated and transplanted without delay. Stem cuttings.
Other Uses
The leaves, rubbed(?) on house-walls, are said to keep away lice. The strong woody culms are the most valued part of the plant, used as building material for huts, for making furniture and fencing, for splitting to weave into baskets and panniers, for spears, bows and arrows, musical instruments, xylophones, and tambourines, etc. Walking-sticks are commonly made by cutting suitably-sized culms with a piece of the basal rhizome. The dried canes are used as a fuel and are also made into charcoal. The plant is grown as a component of shelterbelts and windbreaks. It is used as a complementary crop in plantations of Cordia africana, Eucalyptus microtheca and Khaya senegalensis. The plants extensive root system makes it suitable for used in erosion control programmes in land rehabilitation. Clumps for sap (‘wine’) production are typically established within areas cropped for maize, potatoes, pyrethrum or wheat.
Production
It grows quickly.
Other Information
It is cultivated in the highlands of Tanzania.
Notes
Presumably Oxytenathera braunii now Oxytenanthera abyssinica.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Bambor, Bambu, Bindura bamboo, Budjama, Cana-bambu, Canguera, Djama, Djambarlam-o, Djambarlam, E-ot, Ecula, Edjo, Enta, Kamalea, Kitindi, Liulawe, Lulasi, Malea, Mlazi, Mulanzi, Musyombe, N'djama, Najane, Nsungwi, Quebe, Quene, Soha, Sorgue, Sua, Teman, Udjame, West African bamboo, Woody bamboo-grass
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