Biodiversity of monopodial bamboos and related utilization

Key words: 
• monopodail bamboos /
• biodiversity /
• utilization

Abstract: According to the growth pattern of the rhizome , bamboo was distinguished in two main types by Rivieres (1879) firstly :i. g. monopodial and sympodial bamboos. McClure (1966) used two new terms , leptomorph and pachymorph , to describe the different rhizomes growth pattern .However , some sympodial bamboos , like Pseudostachyum ,Racemobambusa and Sinarundinaria spp ., have scattered culms similar to monopodial bamboos due to the elongation of the culm neck .In this paper it deals with only the real monopodial bamboos .Studies on the species diversity of monopodial bamboos started at the beginning of the 19th century .Michaux (1803)in Flora Breali-Americanna created the first monopodial bamboo genus , Arundinaria Michaux .Thousands of publication about new taxa or revision are exist .At moment 35 genera belonging to monopodial bamboos were recorded .But 11 ～ 21 genera are accepted by taxonomists only .Reports about ecological and genetic diversity are very limited . Only a few papers are available .It is urgent to enhance the research work on these aspects .As for utilizaton of monopodial bamboos , a lot of valuable species are neglected .The development of new processing techniques will promote the utilization of bamboo wood greatly .