Dendrocalamus strictus

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

  • Botanical Name : Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees
  • Synonyms : Bambos stricta Roxb.
  • Common Name : Nakor Vans, Nar Vans, Man-Vel Vans, Calcutta Bamboo, Lilo Vans
  • Plant Family : Poaceae (Gramineae)
  • Plant Form : Grasses
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 4, 8, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 27
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra, Aranya Van

About Dendrocalamus strictus Plant :

  • Habit : 8-10 m tall trees.
  • Stem :
    • 7-17 m x 2.5-7.5 cm diameter, hollow in moist climates, solid in dry, young glaucous green, old yellowish, nodes swollen, lower often rooting, internodes, 30-45 cm, upper branches decurved.
    • Stem-sheaths variable, lower 7.5-30 cm glabrous or strigose with yellow brown hairs, striate, top rounded, ciliate, slightly auricled, blade triangular, hairy especially within, ligule narrow.
  • Leaves :
    • Deciduous, narrowed from the rounded petioled base to the twisted tip, midrib prominent, nerves 3-6 pairs with interposed pellucid glands, sheath striate hairy, callus prominent.
    • Auricle short ciliate with flexuous deciduous hairs; ligule narrow, serrate.
  • Inflorescence : Panicle large, heads dense, 2.5-3.7 cm, much smaller, rachis-smooth, internodes 3.7-5 cm.
  • Flowers : Spikelets usually hairy. Ovary stipitate, turbinate, style long; stigma simple feathery.
  • Fruit : Grain broadly ovoid, shining beaked, hairy above.
  • Flowering and fruiting Time : December-March
  • Significance :
    • A decoctionof the leaves is given to aid parturition.
    • The juice in two ounce doses taken frequently is used as an abortifacient.