Schizostachyum caudatum Backer ex Heyne
Gramineae
Distribution Endemic to Lampung (Sumatra, Indonesia). For map click: Map384.TIF.
Uses Local people consider this bamboo as sacred, giving protection against evil influences.
Observations Densely tufted bamboo. Culm about 8 m tall, erect with drooping tips, dull green, diameter 1.5-4 cm, almost solid or with very small lumen; internodes to 20 cm long. Culm sheath light green, tinged with orange, covered with dark brown hairs; blade broadly triangular, erect; auricles large, with long bristles. Inflorescence terminating a leafy branch; pseudospikelets slender. Caryopsis about 6 mm long, with long persistent style, pericarp thick, easily separated from the seed. Found from the lowlands to 1000 m altitude. In the Bogor Botanic Garden (Indonesia) S. caudatum continues to produce flowers and fruits, which often germinate instantly on the ground below the mother clump, but rarely develop into mature plants.