Bamboo

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Bamboo is an important species of plant and is quite abundant in a heavily forested country such as Malaysia. Considered as a valuable non-wood forest product in Malaysia, bamboo-based industry has a lot of potential for growth and research into the prospective of bamboo utilization in various fields are currently being done. It is also one of the oldest materials used by human for a variety of purposes such as building materials, tools and as source of food.

Bamboo plant is grouped under the family of Gramineae, a family shared with common grass, paddy, and wheat. It is further classified into 10 different genera which are Bambusa, Chusquea, Dendrocalamus, Dinochloa, Gigantochloa, Phyllostachys, Racemobambos, Schizostachyum, Thyrsostachys and Yushania ( Azmy and Abd. Razak, 1991).

According to research there are 12 species of bamboo that are most commercially exploited and among the most common species extracted are Gigantochloa scortechinii, G. levis, G. ligulata, Dendrocalamus asper and Bambusa blumeana (Azmy and Abd. Razak 1991). By habitat, bamboo can cover a variety of ecological area but is commonly found growing in patches along riverside and area with ample amount of water resource. Many bamboos thrive in tropical and subtropical climates while some are able to tolerate temperate climates.

Present coverage of bamboo areas are estimated to about 329 000 ha (Abd. Razak and Abdul Latif 1998) and Kelantan state has been identified with the highest density of bamboo within forest districts in Peninsular Malaysia, comprising of 31035 750 number of culms, followed by the state of Pahang with 23 480 760 culms.

Thus, to be able to accurately identify these varieties of bamboo species and to separate between commercially viable and less viable species, morphological studies are indispensable tools for the task. Morphological study is the taxonomical study of physical forms and traits of a certain species based on...