Plate 090 · arching canes in the understory IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Arching cane yellow-green, with clear nodes.
- 2Many twigs per node, in a fan.
- 3Narrow leaves lanceolate, 4 – 8 mm wide.
- 4Solid cane in section: no central hollow.
- 5Open panicle with spikelets, only in flowering years.
Easily confused with Giant reedArundo donaxIntroduced, with thick hollow canes and a single branch per node. Grows in ditches and open banks. 090 / 100 · PLANTS · POACEAENOT EVALUATED Lorentz's bamboo
Chusquea lorentziana
Suro · Chusquea bamboo
A native bamboo of the montane forest and woodland. Its solid canes arch up to 6 m long and put out a fan of twigs with narrow leaves at each node. It forms dense thickets on slopes and ravine edges.
- Canes
- 3 – 6 m, 3 – 15 mm thick
- Leaves
- 5 – 15 cm × 4 – 8 mm
- Altitude in Tucumán
- c. 1,050 – 1,800 m
- In Argentina
- Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán and Catamarca
- Native bamboo
- Solid canes
- Understory
- Forms thickets
Altitude rangeIn the montane forest
Tucumán records Tucumán records with altitude data run from about 1,050 m (Monteros) to 1,800 m. Tucumán is the province with the most records of the species.
EcologyA thicket of canes
- Understory and gapsgrows under and between trees
- Humiditymisty slopes
- Slopesravine edges
- Shelterbirds and small mammals in the thicket
Like other bamboos, it spreads by rhizomes and forms dense patches that change the light on the forest floor.
Life cycleA woody grass
- Rhizomes. New canes sprout from underground stems and the clump grows year by year.
- Solid canes. Unlike many bamboos, Chusquea canes are not hollow inside.
- Rare flowering. Like many Chusquea, it flowers at long intervals, in open panicles 5 – 15 cm long.
Where to look in Tucumán- PN Aconquija
- Cuesta del Clavillo
- Los Ñuñorcos
- Río Los Sosa