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Black bamboo (Gigantochloa atroviolacea)

Dlium Black bamboo (Gigantochloa atroviolacea)

Pring wulung or black bamboo (Gigantochloa atroviolacea) is a plant species in Poaceae, black and sturdy bamboo, growing in large, dense and upright clumps which are often used as material for making musical instruments, furniture, household utensils and handicrafts.

G. atroviolacea has green-black bamboo shoots with orange tips, covered with brown to black hairs. The reed grows straight and upright, 15 meters high, the segments 40-50 cm long and the walls 8 mm thick.







The reeds are dark green when young, turning greenish purple to dark brown with patches of pale or whitish rings on the joints with few aerial roots. Many branches, usually appearing at a height of 2-3 meters above the ground and one larger than the other.

Leaves on twigs are lanceolate, 20-28 cm long, 2-5 cm wide and locos. Leaf midrib covered with whitish hairs when young. Frond ears up to 1 mm and lokos. The ligula is serrated, 2 mm high and locos.

Inflorescences in the form of panicles on leafy twigs with clusters of up to 18 spikelets on each segment. The spikelet is oval lanceolate, 8-11 cm long, 3 mm wide, 4 perfect florets and one flawless tip floret.

This species lives in humid tropical lowlands, rainfall 1500-3700 mm/year, air humidity 70%, temperature 20-32C, latosol soils, red and reddish brown laterites, but prefers drier calcareous soils. This bamboo is used as a material for making traditional musical instruments, furniture, curtains and matting. Young shoots are cooked as a vegetable.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Bambusoideae
Tribe: Bambuseae
Subtribe: Bambusinae
Genus: Gigantochloa Kurz ex Munro in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26: 123 (1868)
Species: Gigantochloa atroviolacea Widjaja in Reinwardtia 10: 323 (1987)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Bambusa atroviolacea (Widjaja) D.L.Fu in Amer. J. Agric. Forest. 12: 177 (2024)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Gigantochloa atter var. nigra Gamble in Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 7: 61 (1896)

PUBLICATIONS

Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Heyne, K. 1987. Tumbuhan Berguna Indonesia I: 343 [sebagai Gigantochloa verticillata Munro]. Badan Litbang Kehutanan, Departemen Kehutanan. Jakarta. (versi berbahasa Belanda -1922- I: 281-4.)

Ohrnberger, D. 1999. The Bamboos of the World: Annotated Nomenclature and Literature of the Species and the Higher and Lower Taxa: 297-8 Amsterdam : Elsevier.

Widjaja, E.A. 1987. A revision of Malesian Gigantochloa (Poaceae - Bambusoideae). Reinwardtia 10(3): 323. [1987]

Widjaja, E.A. 1995. Gigantochloa atroviolacea Widjaja in Soejatmi Dransfield & E.A. Widjaja (Eds). Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7 Bamboos: 102-4. Bogor:PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation. [Internet] Record from Proseabase. Accessed 22-Apr-2016

Widjaja, E.A. 2001. Identikit jenis-jenis bambu di Jawa: 50. Gb. 16 dan L.f. 16. Bogor: Puslitbang Biologi LIPI.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Black Bamboo, Java Black Bamboo, Tropical Black Bamboo
Indonesian: Bambu Hitam
Javanese: Pring Wulung, Pring Ireng, Pring Uwung

Aryo Bandoro
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