Melocanna
Encyclopedia
Melocanna is a genus
of tropical
clumping bamboo
(tribe
Bambuseae of the family
Poaceae
). It comprises 3 species, found in East Asia
. The genus is similar to Bambusa
. The 48-year cycle of M. baccifera in northeastern India
is responsible for the mautam
phenomenon of bamboo flowering, followed by a plague of rat
s and famine
.
). Species that were previously classified within this genus and are now excluded include:
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
clumping bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
(tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
Bambuseae of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Poaceae
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
). It comprises 3 species, found in East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
. The genus is similar to Bambusa
Bambusa
Bambusa is a large genus of clumping bamboos. These species are usually giant ones, with numerous branches at a node and one or two much larger than the rest...
. The 48-year cycle of M. baccifera in northeastern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
is responsible for the mautam
Mautam
Mautam is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48 years in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, which are thirty percent covered by wild bamboo forests, as well as Chin State in Burma, particularly Hakha, Thantlang, Falam, Paletwa and Matupi Townships, creating a...
phenomenon of bamboo flowering, followed by a plague of rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s and famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
.
Taxonomy
This genus includes Beesha (KunthCarl Sigismund Kunth
Carl Sigismund Kunth , also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist...
). Species that were previously classified within this genus and are now excluded include:
- Melocanna humilis (Roepert ex Trinius), replaced by Bambusa humilis (ReichenbachReichenbach- In Germany :* Reichenbach , in the Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis district, Saxony* Reichenbach im Vogtland, in the Vogtlandkreis district, Saxony* Reichenbach am Heuberg, in the Tuttlingen district, Baden-Württemberg...
ex SteudelErnst Gottlieb von SteudelErnst Gottlieb von Steudel was a German physician and an authority on grasses.Steudel lived in Esslingen where with Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter he organized Unio Itineraria.- References :...
) - Melocanna virgata (MunroWilliam MunroWilliam Munro was an English plant collector, botanist, agrostologist, and officer.-Military career:Munro was born as eldest son of William Munro in Druids Stoke, Gloucestershire in 1818. In 1834 he entered the 39th Regiment of Foot as an ensign...
), replaced by Cephalostachyum virgatum (MunroWilliam MunroWilliam Munro was an English plant collector, botanist, agrostologist, and officer.-Military career:Munro was born as eldest son of William Munro in Druids Stoke, Gloucestershire in 1818. In 1834 he entered the 39th Regiment of Foot as an ensign...
KurzWilhelm Sulpiz KurzWilhelm Sulpiz Kurz was a German botanist and garden director in Bogor, West Java and Kolkatta.He worked in India, Indonesia, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Kurz when citing a botanical name.-References:...
) - Melocanna zollingeri (SteudelErnst Gottlieb von SteudelErnst Gottlieb von Steudel was a German physician and an authority on grasses.Steudel lived in Esslingen where with Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter he organized Unio Itineraria.- References :...
) var. longispiculata (KurzWilhelm Sulpiz KurzWilhelm Sulpiz Kurz was a German botanist and garden director in Bogor, West Java and Kolkatta.He worked in India, Indonesia, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Kurz when citing a botanical name.-References:...
ex MunroWilliam MunroWilliam Munro was an English plant collector, botanist, agrostologist, and officer.-Military career:Munro was born as eldest son of William Munro in Druids Stoke, Gloucestershire in 1818. In 1834 he entered the 39th Regiment of Foot as an ensign...
), replaced by Schizostachyum blumei (Nees)