Oldeania alpina

Oldeania alpina, the African alpine bamboo,^[1] is a perennial^[3] bamboo of the family Poaceae and the genus Oldeania.^[1] It can be found growing in dense but not large stands^[4] on the mountains and volcanoes surrounding the East African Rift^[1] between 2,500 meters (8,200 feet)^[4] and 3,300 meters (11,000 feet) elevation.^[5]

Oldeania alpina
Bamboo on Mount Kenya
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Oldeania
Species:	O. alpina
Binomial name
Oldeania alpina (K. Schum.) Stapleton
Native range of Oldeania alpina
Synonyms
Arundinaria alpina K. Schum.[1] Sinarundinaria alpina (K. Schum.) C.S.Chao & Renvoize Arundinaria fischeri K.Schum. Arundinaria tolange K.Schum. Oxytenanthera ruwensorensis Chiov.[2] Yushania alpinia (K. Schum.) W.C.Lin

Description

Stems and leaves

200 – 1,950 centimeters (6 – 64 feet) tall and 5 – 12.5 centimeters (2 – 5 inches) in diameter;^[3] these grass stems get used as fencing,^[4] plumbing and other building materials.^[6] Culm sheaths (tubular coverings) are hairless or with red bristles.^[3]

Leaf sheath is covered with bristles. Leaf blades are "deciduous at the ligule"; blades 5 – 20 centimeters (2 – 8 inches) long.^[3]

Flowers

Branched cluster of flowers in solitary spikes, which can be dense or loose and are 5–15 centimeters (2–6 inches) long.^[3]

Roots

Short rhizomes described as pachymorph^[3] (a term which is recommended for describing rhizomes which are sympodial or superposed in such a way as to imitate a simple axis, but the word pachymorph would not be used for describing branches or in the case of bamboos, culms).^[7]

Distribution

• Afrotropical realm:

• Northeast Tropical Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan
• East Tropical Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
• West-Central Tropical Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda, DR Congo
• South Tropical Africa: Malawi, Zambia^[1]

References

1. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (2004-03-17). "Taxon: Yushania alpina". Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Archived from the original on 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
2. "Oldeania alpina (K. Schum.) Stapleton". African Plants Database. South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
3. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. "RBG Kew: GrassBase – Yushania alpina". GrassBase – The Online World Grass Flora. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
4. Gerold, Gerhard; Michael Fremerey; Edi Guhardja (2004). "Rain Forest Margins and their Dynamics in South-East Ethiopia". Land Use, Nature Conservation and the Stability of Rainforest Margins in Southeast Asia. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 3-540-00603-6.
5. H. Peter Linder and Berit Gehrke (2 March 2006). "Common plants of the Rwenzori, particularly the upper zones" (PDF). Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zurich. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
6. International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) (May 2005). "Country Report on Bamboo Resources Ethiopia" (PDF). Global Forest Resources Assessment. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 2008-05-08.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. Stapleton, Chris (1998). "Form and Function in the Bamboo Rhizome" (PDF). Journal of the American Bamboo Society. 12 (1). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2008-05-08.