Monastery bamboo or siam bamboo (Thyrsostachys siamensis) is a plant species in Poaceae, bamboo that is clumped, upright stems, densely packed, green, pale green shoots or purplish, widely used for ornamental plants, living fences, wind barrier and bamboo shoots used for vegetables.
T. siamensis has straight stems or curved ends, 8-14 m tall, branches appear high above the ground with many branches in a segment where one is bigger than the other branches.
The segment has a length of 15-39 cm and a diameter of 2-16 cm. The walls are very thick, even solid at the bottom, smooth, grayish green, usually covered by a reed which is not falling out. The boundary of the segment is not prominent with the whitish ring just below the segment.
The reed is not loose, 20-25 cm long, 8-10 cm wide at the base and narrowed to 2.5 cm at the end, pale green or purplish with white hairs scattered on the outside, brown ends yellowish and thinning to dry.
The leaves are long and narrow, 7-14 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, pale green which is whitish and generally lokos. Striped leaf midrib, white haired at a margin, midrib or small ear size. Ligula is very short, flat and smooth-haired.
This bamboo grows in semi-evergreen or drier forests on nutrient-poor soils, mixed forests and teak forests at an elevation of 300-400 meters, rainfall 800-1000 mm/year. This bamboo can grow in various types of soil as long as it is not waterlogged.
Bamboo is used as a home herb and for general household purposes. Reeds are used to make baskets, handicrafts, chopsticks, umbrella handles and feather dusters, fishing rods, pulp and firewood.
The bamboo shoots are hailed as one of the tastiest. This bamboo is popular as a garden and roadside decoration because it is beautiful. The plants are also often planted in rows as hedges and windbreakers.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Bambusoideae
Tribe: Bambuseae
Subtribe: Bambusinae
Genus: Thyrsostachys Gamble in Indian Forester 20: 1 (1896)
Species: Thyrsostachys siamensis Gamble in Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 7: 59 (1896)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Arundarbor regia (Thomson ex Munro) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 761 (1891)
Arundinaria siamensis Kurz in J.E.Teijsmann & S.Binnendijk, Cat. Hort. Bot. Bogor.: 19 (1866)
Bambusa regia Thomson ex Munro in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26: 116 (1868)
Bambusa siamensis Kurz ex Munro in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26: 116 (1868)
Thyrsostachys regia (Thomson ex Munro) Bennet in Indian Forester 114: 711 (1988)
PUBLICATIONS
Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Dassanayake (ed.) (1994). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 8: 1-458. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
Gilliland, H.B. (1971). A revised flora of Malaya 3: 1-319. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Singapore.
Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590.
Kumari, P., Singh, P. & Mao, A.A. (eds.) (2024). Flora of India 30: 1-334. Botanical Survey of India.
Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2006). Poaceae. Flora of China 22: 1-733. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis
VERNACULAR NAME
Chinese (simplified): 泰竹
Chinese (traditional): 暹羅竹 - 泰竹
English: Siam bamboo, Monastery bamboo, Thai bamboo, Monastery bamboo, Umbrella bamboo, Thai umbrella bamboo, Umbrella-handle bamboo.
Filipino: Thailand bamboo
Hong Kong: 泰竹
Indonesian: Bambu siam, bambu bangkok
Javanese: Pring payung
Lithuanian: Siaminis šluotbambukis
Thai: ไผ่รวก
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