Bamboos are grasses! Currently about 1200 species are recognized, divided into two main groups: woody and herbaceous bamboos. Dendrocalamus is a woody bamboo genus, with about 27 species distributed in China and several new bamboos belonging to this genus were recently described.

  During their fieldwork for checking bamboos cultivated in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), researchers discovered another new species of woody bamboos endemic to southern Yunnan, China. The researchers compared the samples with type specimens of similar species deposited in herbaria, analyzed images of type specimens, and consulted relevant literatures on Paleotropical bamboos. They named the new species as Dendrocalamus jinghongensis P.Y.Wang, Y.X.Zhang & D.Z.Li, sp. nov. and published it in Phytotaxa.

  Dendrocalamus jinghongensis can be distinguished from closely related species by the following morphological characters: branching from the nodes around 2 m above the ground; culm sheath 1/2 as long as the internode, culm sheath ligule 10–20 mm long; leaf sheath ligule 3–13 mm long; filaments free, or attached together only at the lower portion, and ca. 14 mm long.

  It is only known from Jingne Township, Jinghong, Yunnan, China and was introduced in XTBG in 1984. The conservation status of the new species is considered as DD (Deficient Data) according to the IUCN parameters.

Dendrocalamus jinghongensis.

 A. Clump. B. Close-up of clump with young culms.

C. Flowering branch. D. Floret. E.

Prophyll. F. Shoot. G. Culm sheath.

H. Pistil. I. Fruit. J. Glume. K. Lemma. L. Palea.

(Images by WANG Pingyuan)

Bamboo shoot of Dendrocalamus jinghongensis (by Wang Pingyuan)

WANG Pingyuan
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
E-mail: wpy@xtbg.org.cn