Phyllostachys edulis

Phyllostachys edulis
Bamboo forest
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Phyllostachys
Species:	P. edulis
Binomial name
Phyllostachys edulis (Carrière) J.Houz., 1906
Synonyms[1]
Bambos moosoo Siebold Bambusa edulis Carrière Bambusa heterocycla Carrière Bambusa mitis Carrière Bambusa pubescens Pradelle Phyllostachys bicolor Crouzet Phyllostachys heterocycla (Carrière) Matsum. Phyllostachys pubescens (Pradelle) Mazel ex J.Houz.

Bamboo shoots

Phyllostachys edulis, moso bamboo,^[2] or tortoise-shell bamboo,^[2] or mao zhu (Chinese: 毛竹; pinyin: máozhú), (Japanese モウソウチク（孟宗竹）) is a temperate species of giant timber bamboo native to China and Taiwan and naturalised elsewhere.^[3] The edulis part of the Latin name is a reference to the fact that it produces edible shoots. This bamboo can reach heights of up to 28 m (92 ft).^[4] This particular species of bamboo is the most common species used in the bamboo textile industry of China. Its physical properties boast an average breaking tenacity more than three times that of cotton, wool, rayon, or polyester.^[5]

Ecology

Polyporus phyllostachydis (Sotome, T. Hatt. & Kakish.), is a fungus species, known from Japan, that grows on the ground on the living or dead roots of the Phyllostachys heterocycla bamboo.

Phyllostchys edulis spreads using both asexual and sexual reproduction. The most common and well known for this plant is asexual reproduction. This occurs when the plant sends up new culms from underground rhizomes. The culms grow quickly and reach a height of 90 ft or more (this is depending on the age and health of the plant). In mature individuals, the culms in young plants grow taller and wider in diameter as the general plant reaches maturity, but once the individual culm stops growing it will not grow again. P. edulis also flowers and produces seed, and it does so every half century or so, but it has a sporadic flowering nature and there are always a few individual plants in flower somewhere. The seeds fall from the mature culms in the hundreds of thousands and are quick to germinate. Mice, field rats and other rodents take notice of the bounty of seed, this results in the loss of many of the seeds, but within a few weeks the surviving few seeds would have germinated. The first culm from a seedling will not get much taller than a few inches at most, and may be as thin as 2mm, but with every new culm sent up from developing rhizomes, the grove of plants will grow in height and cane diameter.

Cultivars

Cultivars include:

• Phyllostachys edulis 'Bicolor'
• Phyllostachys edulis 'Kikko' or 'Kikko-Chiku' (Syn.: Phyllostachys edulis var. heterocycla)
• Phyllostachys edulis 'Subconvexa' (Syn.: Phyllostachys heterocycla f. subconvexa, Phyllostachys pubescens 'Subconvexa')
• Phyllostachys edulis 'Nabeshimana', (Syn.: Phyllostachys heterocycla f. nabeshimana, Phyllostachys pubescens f. luteosulcata)

Biochemistry

Compounds isolated from P. edulis include:

• Hydroxycinnamic acids^[6]
  • p-coumaric acid
  • caffeic acid
  • ferulic acid
• Chlorogenic acids^[6]
  • chlorogenic acid (3-(3,4-dihydroxycinnamoyl)quinic acid)
  • 3-O-(3‘-methylcaffeoyl)quinic acid
  • 5-O-caffeoyl-4-methylquinic acid
  • 3-O-caffeoyl-1-methylquinic acid (C₁₇H₂₀O₉, exact mass : 368.110732).
• Flavones
  • tricin^[7][8]
  • 7-O-methyltricin ^[8]
  • Glycosylated flavones^[7][9]
    • orientin ^[7][9]
    • isoorientin ^[7][9]
    • vitexin ^[7][9]
    • isovitexin ^[7][9]
    • 5,7,3'-trihydroxy-6-C-β-D-digitoxopyranosyl-4'-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside^[7]
    • 5,3',4'-trihydroxy-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside^[7]
    • 5,4'-dihydroxy-3',5',-dimethoxy-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside^[7]
    • 5,7,3',4'-trihydroxy-6-C-(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-[1→6])-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavonoside^[7]

References

See also

Wikispecies has information related to: Phyllostachys edulis

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phyllostachys edulis.