Dendrocalamus sinicus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Dendrocalamus |
Species: | D. sinicus
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Binomial name | |
Dendrocalamus sinicus L.C.Chia & J.L.Sun
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Dendrocalamus sinicus, the dragon bamboo, is a gigantic clumping bamboo native to Yunnan Province of China and to Laos. It has the largest culms of any known species of bamboo; up to 14.5 inches (37 cm) wide with culm walls up to 2.3 inches (5.8 cm) thick[1] and the culm up to 151 feet (46 meters) in height. Each culm can weigh up to 990 pounds (450 kg) apiece.[2][3][4] A plant eventually consists of about one hundred culms. This species was unknown to science prior to 1980, although well known to the citizens of Yunnan and Laos for centuries.