Description
Bambusa vulgaris forms moderately loose clumps and has no thorns. It has lemon-yellow culms (stems) with green stripes and dark green leaves. Stems are not straight, not easy to split, inflexible, thick-walled, and initially strong. The densely tufted culms grow 10–20 metres (30–70 ft) high and 4–10 centimetres (2–4 in) thick. Culms are basally straight or flexuose (bent alternately in different directions), drooping at the tips. Culm walls are slightly thick. Nodes are slightly inflated. Internodes are 20–45 centimetres (7.9–18 in). Several branches develop from mid-culm nodes and above. Culm leaves are deciduous with dense pubescence. Leaf blades are narrowly lanceolate.
Flowering is not common, and there are no seeds. Fruits are rare due to low pollen viability caused by irregular meiosis. At the interval of several decades the whole population of an area bloom at once, and individual stems bear a large number of flowers. Vegetation propagates through clump division, by rhizome, stem and branch cutting, layering and marcotting. The easiest and most practised cultivation method is culm or branch cutting. In the Philippines, the best results were obtained from one-node cuttings from the lower parts of six-month-old culms. When a stem dies, the clump usually survives. A clump can grow out of stem used for poles, fences, props, stakes or posts. Its rhizomes extend up to 80 cm before turning upward to create open fast-spreading clumps. The easy propagation of B. vulgaris explains its seemingly wild occurrence.
The average chemical composition is cellulose 41–44%, pentosans 21–23%, lignin 26–28%, ash 1.7–1.9%, and silica 0.6–0.7%.
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