Ringal Bamboos of the Himalayas
In most parts of the central Himalayas, there are a number of shrubby bamboos, locally known as ringal, found in the temperate zones and higher altitudes (snow line).
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Ringal Bamboos of the Himalayas
In most parts of the central Himalayas, there are a number of shrubby bamboos, locally known as ringal, found in the temperate zones and higher altitudes (snow line). At the higher altitude of Himachal Pradesh from 1800 to 3600 m (districts Shimla, Solan, Sirmour, Kullu, Chamba and Mandi) and Uttarakhand (Garhwal and Kumaon hills), Nepal and also in western part of Bhutan, people have been cultivating different types of temperate shrubby bamboos on the hill slopes along with natural belt. On the basis of socio-economic and ecologic benefit, commonly four major types of ringal bamboo are used by the local indigenous people in different areas of the Himalayas. These species are: Drepanostachyum falcatum (Nees) Keng f. (local name: Gol ringal) Himalayacalamus falconeri (Munro) Keng f. (local name: Deo ringal) Thamnocalamus spathiflorus (Trin.) Munro (local name: Tham ringal) Sinarundinaria anceps (Mitford) C.S. Chao & Renvoize (local name: Jamura ringal) Himalayacalamus falconeri is recorded at highest elevations among all the above bamboo species. Drepanostachyum falcatum and Sinarundinaria anceps are other two species used in the local system for different articles. The communities that make articles from bamboo and ringal are called Baruree and Rudia, respectively.
11.1
Drepanostachyum Keng f.
Stapleton (1994a, b) while studying bamboos in Nepal and Bhutan described some of the species of Arundinaria under the genus Drepanostachyum Keng f. Clump-forming thornless bamboos up to 5 m tall, with many branches, are found from 1000 m up to 2200 m in drier subtropical forests and also cultivated. Branch © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 R.L. Banik, Silviculture of South Asian Priority Bamboos, Tropical Forestry, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0569-5_11
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Ringal Bamboos of the Himalayas
buds at the nodes of the culms are shorter than their height and always open. The buds have many initials visible, which will produce many branches at each node; about half of them grow in the first year. The branches are quite uniform in size and spread around the culm. When growing strongly, the upper half of the culm sheaths are very narrow, and culm-sheath ligules are long and ragged. The sheaths are always rough inside at the top, and this distinguishes them from Himalayacalamus species. Rhizomes are short and solid, less than 30 cm in length and similar to those of Thamnocalamus (Stapleton 1994a, b).
11.1.1
Drepanostachyum falcatum (Munro) Keng f.
(Syn. Arundinaria falcata Nees in Linnaea 9:478. 1834; Munro, Trans, Linn. Soc. Lond. 26: 26. 1868; Gamble in Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Cal. 7:12–13.1896 and Hook. F., Fl. Brit. India 7:381. 1897.) Vern. Name: Gol ringal, nirgal, nigal, nagre (Uttarakhand, Himachal of India), gola ringal, gol ringal, gadh ringal and godra ringal (Garhwal, Uattarakhanda); uombang (Meghalaya); tite nigalo and diu nigalo (Nepal).
11.1.1.1
Distribution
The species is usually found in drier subtropical forests and forms dense thickets or moderately dense
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