SPECIE: MELOCANNA BACCIFERA or ‘MULI’ BAMBOO
Muli Bamboo is a bamboo found in abundance in NE India. The flowering of Muli bamboo is an event of great significance. Large tracts of land are affected, as bamboo forests burst into bloom and then die. It is easily available in the forests of Mizoram for local construction practices. This is the specie that has traditionally been used for building and crafts by the tribal communities. Usually gathered from the wild, it is occasionally cultivated for these uses. Height 10-20 m Diameter 3-7 cm Climate Tropical - Subtropical Internodes 20-25 cm long Colour young: green, old: straw coloured FAVOURABLE PROPERTIES: • Slender elongated necks, 3-5 mm in thickness of culm wall • Non thorny, erect nature • Can be used for ornamentation • The culms are widely used in house building; • Used to make woven wares such as baskets, mats, handicrafts, wall plates, screens and hats; and for domestic utensils • Multiple utility (provides edible shoots, medicine, fleshy edible fruits apart from culms that have a wide range of uses) • Important source of superior paperpulp
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