Thyrsostachys oliveri Gamble
Gramineae
Distribution Native in Upper Burma (Myanmar) and northern Thailand. For map click: Map511.TIF.
Uses Culms are used for building material and broom handles; the seed is edible.
Observations Densely tufted sympodial bamboo. Culm erect, straight, up to 25 m tall, diameter about 5 cm, wall relatively thin; internodes 30-60 cm long. Culm sheath thin, stramineous. Inflorescence terminating a short leafless branch, bearing a large reduced sheath (or bract) at each node enclosing a cluster of pseudospikelets. Caryopsis cylindrical, glabrous, about 1 cm long. In Burma (Myanmar), found in moist hill forest; in Thailand in mixed or teak forest, occasionally planted in villages. Potentially, T. oliveri is also of importance for other countries of South-East Asia.