Gigantochloa apusGigantochloa apus(Bl. ex Schult.f.) Kurz, Tijdschr Ned. Ind. 27: 226. 1868; Parker, Indian For. 57: 108. 1931; Tewari, Monogr. Bamboo 93.1992.(Fig. 47).Bambusa apusBl. ex Schult. f., Syst. Veg. 7: 1353. 1830.Gigantochloa takserahCamus, Les Bambusees 141. 1913; Blatter, Indian For. 55. 591. 1929.Gigantochloa kurziiGamble, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 7: 65, t. 56.1896.

Fig. 47.G. apus.A - leafy twig with flowering branch; B - flowering branch; C - culm-sheath; D - spikelet; E & F - empty glumes; G - palea; H - staminal tube and stamens around the pistil; I - pistil.

DESCRIPTIONStrongly tufted bamboo with erect drooping culms.Culmsbright green or yellow, hollow at the base, 2.5-9 cm diameter, wall thickness 6-13 mm, little swollen at the nodes and constricted between the nodes.Culm-sheaths35-45 cm with small rounded auricle; blade curved up towards middle, very acute, dark brown with spreading white soft hairs outside, inside glabrous, old sheaths persistent, yellowish and brown.Leaveslinear-lanceolate, 10-15 cm long and 1.5-2 cm broad, petiole short.Inflorescencevery large pseudo-panicle; apparently leafless, with finely hairy axes and clusters of up to 20 pseudo-spikelets. Spikelets ovate-lanceolate, acute, straight, distinctly laterally compressed; glumes 4-5; lemmas shortly mucronate below, apex with long dark brown cilia; palea 4-5-nerved; keels ciliate. Staminal tube longer than palea, anthers dark purple, 8-18 mm, connective prolonged into ca.1 mm, hairy, acute at tip. Ovary oblong with densely long hairy apex; style with upwardly directed hairs.Caryopsisovate oblong with long attenuate furrow on one side.FLOWERINGKurz recorded flowering of this species in 1878 from Tenasserim in Myanmar.DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGYThis species is distributed in Meghalaya (Garo hills). Holttum (1958) mentioned that this bamboo was probably native in Tenasserim, Myanmar and introduced a long time ago in Java and now it is widely cultivated.G. apusgrows well either on sandy soil or clay soil. It grows in the lowland along river banks or on hill slopes upto 1500 m above sea level. This bamboo grows in open areas or disturbed forests.ANATOMYMacrohairs in the leaf lamina none, microhairs few, distal cell 36-43 m. Prickle hairs numerous 23-63 m long. Papillae 4-8 long, 2-6 short overarching the individual stoma. Stomata in 2-3 files, outlines obscured by overarching long papillae. Long cells in 5-7 files on inter costal zone. In T.S. of leaf lamina, four small vascular bundles on the adaxial side and four on abaxial side and a large vascular bundle in the middle of the midrib are seen. In the culm epidermis short cells mostly rectangular to trapezoid, papillae none. Stomata 50 m x 25 m wide. Long cells 170-290 m long, rectangular, sometimes with tapering ends with slightly wavy walls (Widjaja, 1987).CHEMISTRYChemical composition of the culm has holocellulose 52.1 per cent; ash 2.7-2.9 per cent; silica 1.8-5.2 per cent; solibility in cold water 5.2 per cent; in hot water 5.4-6.4 per cent; in alcohol benzene 1.4-3.2 per cent and in one per cent NaOH 21.2-25.1 per cent. Starch content fluctuates between 0.24-0.71 per cent based on the season. Nodes contain deposits of silicic acid.SILVICULTUREMultiple shoot production and rooting are induced from nodes and shoots respectively by tissue culture method. Callusing is reported from the leaf (Zamora, 1994).PESTS AND DISEASESCulm rot caused byEncoelia helvolaand Witches broom caused byEpichole bambusaeare reported.Dinoderus minutusis the most serious borer attacking harvested culms.PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIESThe strength properties of this species were tested in green (Moisture content 54.3%) and in air dry (M.C 15.1%) condition. Average MOR 102.0 in green and 87.5 N/mm2in air dry, maximum crushing stress varies from 21.73 to 26.50 in green and 27.29 to 48.64 kN/mm2in air dry. Average tensile strength was 294.1 in green and 298.9 kN/mm2in air dry. Average shear strength in green varied from 5.99 to 7.68 whereas in air dry it was 7.47 to 7.65 kN/mm2(Prawirohatmodjo, 1990).USESGigantochloa apusis the most important bamboo in Java, especially in the handicraft and furniture industries. Moreover, it is used extensively for building materials such as roofing, scaffolding, bridges walls etc. This bamboo is calledBambu taliby most Indonesians, because it is the best bamboo used for making string.