Melocanna Explained

Melocanna is a genus of Asian clumping bamboo in the grass family.^{[1] [2]}

The 48-year cycle of M. baccifera in northeastern India is responsible for the phenomenon called "mautam" or "bamboo death", in which large populations of bamboo flower at the same time, this being followed by a plague of rats, which in turn triggers a famine within the human populations.

Species^{[3] [4]}

1. Melocanna arundina C.E.Parkinson – Thailand, Myanmar; naturalized in parts of southern China
2. Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz - Nagaland, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Bangladesh, Myanmar; sparingly naturalized in parts of West Indies and South America

Formerly included^[3] see Bambusa, Cephalostachyum, Gigantochloa, Nastus, Ochlandra, and Schizostachyum

Notes and References

1. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14338177#page/53/mode/1up Trinius, Carl Bernhard von. 1820. Neue Entdeckungen im Ganzen Umfang der Pflanzenkunde 2: 43.
2. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40016719 Tropicos, Melocanna Trin.
3. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=424002 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
4. http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Melocanna The Plant List search for Melocanna