BAMBOOS OF INDI A

Bamboos of India
➤
Fig. 88. S. pergracile. A - leafy branch;
B - culm-sheath; C - flowering branch;
D - spikelet cluster; E - spikelet; F - open
spikelet with sterile flower; G - palea;
H - stamens and lodicules; I - lodicule;
J - stamen; K - young shoot; L - a portion
of culm.
line 88
thin, rounded or cuneate at the base into a
short petiole, terminating above in short,
subulate, scabrous, acuminate tip,
glaucescent beneath, rough on both surfaces and margins, midrib conspicuous, secondary veins 7-13 pairs, intermediate
usually 5, sheaths glabrous, faintly striate, ending in a small, ciliate callus, auricles at the mouth with a few, early
caducous cilia; ligule very narrow, entire. Inflorescence a large panicle with verticils of long, drooping, filiform spikes
bearing distant broad heads of spikelets, supported by small, chaffy, sheathing bracts, rachis very slender. Spikelets in
bracteate clusters, 1.25-1.75 cm long, without glumes, but bearing 1-2 sterile florets, followed by a fertile floret, ending
in a terminal sterile floret; lemma 1.25-1.75 cm long, ovate-lanceolate, many-nerved, densely pale, hairy, long-mucronate,
palea as long as lemma; lodicules 2, narrow, lanceolate, obtuse and ciliate at the tip, 3-5-nerved persistent. Stamens
with narrow filaments; anthers purple, obtuse. Ovary smooth, sub-globular; style 1. Stigmas 2-3, stout, recurved.
Caryopsis 1.25 cm long.
Chromosome number 2n = 72, 48, 54 and 60. Hexaploid (Ghorai and Sharma, 1980; Sobita Devi and Sharma, 1993).
FLOWERING
This species often flowers sporadically and occasionally flowers gregariously over extensive areas. Troup (1921) recorded
its gregarious flowering from Tharrawaddy in Myanmar during 1865, 1875, 1887-1888, 1894-1895 and during 1913-
1914; in Pyinmana during 1899-1900 and 1906-1908; in Upper Chidwin, Myettha and Katha during 1900-1907 and
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