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African Lowland Bamboo

Oxytenanthera

African Lowland Bamboo
Photo: (c) timharris, some rights reserved (CC BY), CC BY 4.0

Oxytenanthera is a genus of African lowland bamboo in the grass family, with one recognised species, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, grown and used across tropical and southern Africa. It is a hardy clumping bamboo valued for construction, weaving and land restoration rather than as a common ornamental.

Family
Poaceae (Grass family)
Grows as
Grass
Light
Full sun
Water
Tolerates dry spells once established; water regularly while young.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerant of poor or degraded ground.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect from frost below about 0 °C.
How easy
Moderate

About

Oxytenanthera is a genus of African bamboo. Bamboos are members of the grass family Poaceae.

The only recognised species in this genus is Oxytenanthera abyssinica. This species is found widespread across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In tropical Africa it is found outside of the humid forest zone from Senegal to Ethiopia. In Eastern Africa it is found to occur from Ethiopia all the way down to northern South Africa.

Where it grows

Oxytenanthera is widespread in the tropical parts of Africa. It occurs from The Gambia to Ethiopia, from Gabon to Kenya, and from Angola to Mozambique, and in the Limpopo Province in the northern parts of South Africa.

Uses

Traditional uses of Oxytenanthera abyssinica include weaving for basketry, as a building material for local construction, houses and furniture, and in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in Iringa, Mbeya and Ruvuma Regions it is tapped for its juice, and fermented for the production of a local alcoholic beverage.

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oxytenanthera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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