DENDROCALAMUS asper

30m x 30cm, -5°C  Rough Bamboo, Pring Betung (Indo.)

Grows to high altitudes and so can withstand some degrees of frost. Cultivated in many parts of SE Asia for its edible shoots, construction, & craft. The large culms are also used as outriggers on 'Jukungs' Indonesian fishing boats.  The word 'asper' means 'rough' in Latin and the species is given this name because the new culms a covered by a fine, velvet-like hairs which harden with age when they become rough to touch, like fine sand paper.  This is a great bamboo for big timber and unlike many Bambusa species the branches are not as prone to getting tangled so it is easier to harvest.

D-asper