Bio Diversity Park

Common Name : Black bamboo

Hindi Name : बांस | Scientific Name : Phyllostachys nigra
Family : Poaceae
Uses : Young shoots are edible when cooked. Somewhat acrid when raw, they are prepared for eating by boiling in one change of water, the water being changed after 8 - 10 minutes. A distinctive taste and aroma. The shoots, which are about 5cm in diameter, are harvested in the spring when they are about 8cm above the ground, cutting them about 5cm below soil level. The leaves are antipyretic and diuretic. They are used internally in the treatment of fevers (especially infantile convulsions), vomiting and nosebleeds. The leave are harvested during the growing season and dried for later use. The juice of the stems is antipyretic, antitussive, expectorant and sedative. It is taken internally in the treatment of lung infections with cough and phlegm. The sap is pressed from young stems in the summer and then dried for later use. The epidermis of the stem bark is antiemetic, depurative and sedative. It is used internally in the treatment of vomiting, nosebleeds, coughs etc. The epidermis is collected from young stems in the summer and is dried for later use. The root is astringent, antipyretic, diuretic and styptic. It has been used in the treatment of rabies. The roots are harvested in the winter and dried for later use. The canes make good plant supports. Thin walled but durable, the canes are also used for cabinet work and for decorative panels and inlays. The rhizome is used in making umbrella handles, wickerwork, canes, musical instruments and various kinds of handicrafts.
Native: China
General Description:

It is a bamboo and grows primarily in the temperate biome. It is an evergreen bamboo that can grow 4 - 8 metres tall, occasionally to 10 metres; the erect, woody culms can be 50mm or more in diameter with thin-walled internodes 25 - 30cm long. The rhizomes are elongated, the plant having a running habit that can produce new canes some distance from the main clump, especially in warm climates. This tendency to run, however, is somewhat curtailed in cooler climates, where new shoot production can be rather reduced.
The plant is harvested from the wild, and sometimes also cultivated, for use as a food, medicine and as a source of materials. A very ornamental plant, it is widely grown in gardens.
This species has been widely planted for ornament in the Mediterranean - it is escaping from cultivation and becoming established there. In Hawaii it is spreading by rhizomes and forming extensive, dense stands on moist, shaded slopes and stream banks, where it displaces native vegetation - virtually no other plants grow within the black bamboo groves.