Skip to main content

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
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Popular Posts

Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil)

Japanese morning glory ( Ipomoea nil ) is a species of plant in the Convolvulaceae family, a climber with twining stems that grow up to 5 meters long. The green, finely hairy leaves are 14 cm long, heart-shaped at the base, entire or 3-5-lobed, tapering at the edges. The flowers are funnel-shaped, blue to reddish-purple with a whitish tube, 5 cm wide and up to 7 cm long. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Convolvulaceae Subfamily: Convolvuloideae Tribe: Ipomoeeae Genus: Ipomoea L. in Sp. Pl.: 159 (1753) Species: Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth in Catal. Bot. 1: 36 (1797) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvuloides triloba Moench in Methodus: 452 (1794) Convolvulus nil L. in Sp. Pl., ed. 2.: 219 (1762) Pharbitis nil (L.) Choisy in Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 6: 439 (1833 publ. 1834) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvulus caeruleus (Roxb. ex Ker-Gawl.) Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 593 (1824) Convolvulus coelestis G.Forst. in Fl. Ins...

Moist pimpernel (Lindernia dubia)

Moist pimpernel ( Lindernia dubia ) is a species of plant in the Linderniaceae. It is a herbaceous, ground-growing, erect, cylindrical stem with red to light brown color. The leaves are green, oval, up to 10 mm long, up to 7 mm wide, with rounded tips and reddish veins. The flowers are funnel-shaped, bluish-white, with yellow veins. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Linderniaceae Genus: Lindernia All. in Auct. Syn. Meth. Stirp. Hort. Regii Taur. 3: 178 (1766) Species: Lindernia dubia (L.) Pennell in Monogr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1: 141 (1935) Variety: Lindernia dubia var. dubia, Lindernia dubia var. rhizomatosa Pennell ex D.Q.Lewis HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ilysanthes dubia (L.) Barnhart in Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 376 (1899) Ilysanthes gratioloides Benth. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 419 (1846) Gratiola dubia L. in Sp. Pl.: 17 (1753) Limnophila dubia (L.) M.R.Almeida in Fl. Maharashtra 3B: 393 (2001)...

Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Carica or Dieng papaya or mountain papaya or mountain pawpaw or Carica pubescens or Carica candamarcensis or Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis ( Vasconcellea pubescens ) is a species of plant in the Caricaceae, a small tree, not woody, 1-10 meters high and with many branches. V. pubescens has palmate leaves with 5-7 lobes, thick pubescence on the underside of the leaf, 35 cm wide, peduncle 33 cm long. Male flowers have stalks up to 15 cm long, female flowers are larger with short, hard stalks. The fruit is arranged in a spiral along the stem and one tree can produce 50-60 fruits per year. Fruit is 6-15 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, five corners extending from base to top, green or yellow to orange. The fruit has a sour taste but is fragrant and around the cavity the seeds appear which are encased in a white and watery sarcotesta. The pulp can be eaten raw and is usually cooked as a vegetable. This species grows at an elevation of 1500-3000 meters, temperature 10-28C, soil with good drainage,...