Friday, April 16, 2010

Bamboos of Talle

Hiibiñ: Largest of the species in the area, but smaller than the Apatani bamboos at Ziro. Size of bije binyi. Larger ones can be flattened into yamyo, but not strong enough as poles.

Yana: Smallest one. Most abundant. Makes trekking very difficult as it 'creeps' on the ground.


Tader: Strongest. Its shoots are sprouting up now. As tasty as those of the Apatani bamboos at Ziro.

These are the bamboo species found in Talle Valley.

7 comments:

  1. Good post, Kanno.
    One of the Talle Valley bamboo species is reported to be only growing in this area and nowhere else in India (be it inside or outside AP). Which one is it ? I would say hiibin, but not very sure.
    Also, what difference between HIIBIN, HEBIN and YABIN ?

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  2. Thanks, PB. I would guess the rare species would be tader. It grows ONLY in the valley proper.
    Will find out the differences between ---bins. Could be just inter-village variations in pronunciation!

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  3. According to my information, the bamboo species that is endemic to Talle Valley in India is Pleioblastus simonii. It has a strong straight culm and is found at an elevation of about 3,000 m. You can see a picture of the typical culms from this link:

    http://www.lewisbamboo.com/simon5.jpg

    It looks a bit like the specimen of the foreground in your picture of "tader". Do you recognize it?

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  4. @PB, thanks for finding this. So, tader is Pleioblastus simonii. My only concern is this is not one of the four bamboo species reported to be found in Talle Valley listed in the official website of Forests and Environment Department of Arunachal Pradesh. However, our local people insist that there are only three bamboo species in the area.

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  5. D/Kano

    Pleioblastus simonii is also called
    'Medake Bamboo' in local name but not sure which language is it.


    It is a medium sized bamboo that has persistent culm sheaths. The sheath (covering around the new canes during the Spring) stays on and gives the bamboo a very distinguished appearance. This species has a cluster of branches with beautiful foliage. Bamboo in its natural setting is free to roam finding just the right sun light and soil nutrients to grow to its mature species size. In a container, it is not capable of this and will rely solely on your care.

    While examining a bamboo, its branching types, sheath covering, node and internode may kindly be taken care of for a rough estimation.

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  6. @ Millo Tago & Kanno,
    You seem to have a fairly good knowledge of bamboos. I myself am a bit confused... I have collected various names apart from the cultivated variety (bije), such as bihii, hebin, hiijo, hiiso, riijan, tabyo, tader, tajer, tapin, tapyu, yabin, yadi and yana. But some of those names may be only local variants of the same botanical species. Do you think that each of those names describe a distinct species, and do you know other bamboo names which are not listed here?

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  7. great discussion on bamboo. keep up!

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