Bambusa stenostachya

Hackel

Thorny bamboo

PoaceaeShoots

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Shoots

Young shoots of Bambusa blumeana are boiled and eaten as a vegetable, being harvested when they first emerge from the ground. The plant is used as a living fence between fields, as a windbreak around homesteads and to prevent erosion on river banks. The poles are useful as a lightweight scaffolding but are not durable enough for building construction; other uses include basket-making, furniture manufacture, parquet, toys, chopsticks and kitchen utensils. The culms of this bamboo, along with those of Dendrocalamus asper, are the main source of bamboo pulp used to make paper. Bambusa blumeana is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant. Propagation can be from seed, but the plant only flowers once every few years, so seed is often unavailable. Clumps can be divided when new growth is commencing, or culms can be cut into sections and used as cuttings.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant.

Asia, China, India,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A bamboo. It is spiny. The stalks are 15-24 m high. The internodes are 25-40 cm long. They are 8-15 cm wide. The leave are narrow and sword shaped. They are 10-25 cm long and 2 cm wide.

How to Grow

It is cultivated as a hedge plant.

Other Information

The shoots are used locally.

Notes

There are about 120 Bambusa species. They are tropical and subtropical in Asia.

Names & Synonyms

Bambusa spinosa Roxburgh

References (6)

Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 67
Hort. bengal. 25. 1814
http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/sorting/Bamboos_Edible.html
Hu, Shiu-ying, 2005, Food Plants of China. The Chinese University Press. p 285 (As stenostachya)
Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 194
Terra, G.J.A., 1973, Tropical Vegetables. Communication 54e Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, p 27