ໄມ້ເຮ່ຍ / Slender Bamboo

Use
Food
Fibre
Income
Scientific Name / Family
Schizostachyum blumei Nees / Poaceae
Synonyms
Arundarbor longinodes (Miq.) Kuntze
Arundo spiculorum Oken
Bambusa longinodis Miq.
Melocanna longispiculata Kurz ex Teijsm. & Binn.
Melocanna tenuispiculata Kurz ex Teijsm. & Binn.
Melocanna zollingeri var. longispiculata Munro
Schizostachyum longispiculatum (Munro) Kurz
Schizostachyum zollingeri var. longispiculatum (Munro) E.G.Camus
Other Names
Botanical Description

Mai hia is a slender bamboo with very thin walls and grows in dense clusters of up to 60 stems. The average cluster diameter is about 2-3 m with an average height of 17 m. Canes are around 4 cm in diameter, wall thickness is c. 0.4 cm, and internodes are 74-75 cm long with a waxy hair-like layer on the stems. The first branch appears 4-5 m from the ground. Clump sheets are 5-6.5 x 18-20 cm, white-yellow, and hairy all over. The tip clump sheet droops, measuring 28-38 x 11 cm with hairy auricles of 2 cm x 11 cm. The average number of leaves is eight or nine with leaflets measuring around 5 x 24 cm.

Description of Use

Bamboo canes are split open, beaten and flattened by a sun-drying process until they are completely flat and about 15 cm wide. They can then be woven into mats. Shoots are eaten locally or sold for $0.15-$0.2 per kg. In central-southern Laos, wall mats sized 2 m x 3.5 m are worth $1.5 and canes $0.1 per kg.

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