Gregarious Flowering of Climbing Bamboo (<i>Dinochloa nicobariana</i>) in Nicobar Group of Islands, India

Abstract

Bamboos, the group of largest growing perennials, belong to the grass family Poaceae, sub family Bambusoideae. Around 1400 bamboo species have been reported to be distributed worldwide among which 115 species of 20 genera have been reported from India (Naithani et al., 2008). From Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 20 species have been reported which are known for high degree of endemism, most importantly six species of bamboos viz., Dinochloa nicobariana, D. scandens var. andamanica, Schizostachyum andamanicum, S. kalpongianum, S. kurzii and S. rogersii are endemic to this Island (Garbyal et al., 2008). However, S. andamanicum and S. kalpongianum have now been merged under S. rogersii (Naithani, 2009).