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Sarocalamus racemosus (Keng. maxilla)                                                                              A42

 

This is a common bamboo of the higher altitude coniferous forests above 2,900m, often forming a component of mixed bamboo pastureland. It is usually found in better drained or more sloping sites than Yushania species, but not usually on the steepest sites where Thamnocalamus spathiflorus thrives. It is usually less than 2m tall and up to 1cm in diameter, with leaves up to 10cm long, but like Yushania species it is often stunted by grazing and burning. Larger plants may be found, but they does not usually form dense thickets. This species is best distinguished from Yushania species by the totally   different   form   of   rhizome,   with  roots

 

growing at every node. It can be distinguished quickly from Yushania microphylla, another common spreading species with which it is often found, by the absence of any thick transparent band along one edge of its leaves. It also has fewer, stronger, less scabrous bristles on the leaf sheath auricles. New culms are always smooth, without any roughness or wax below the nodes. This species is usually too small to shade out tree regeneration, and tends to form more open stands than Yushania species. It is important for grazing of livestock, and for wildlife, and may also be used for making arrows, brushes and drinking straws.

 

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