Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Melocanna baccifera - Berry Bamboo, Mali Bamboo
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Cereal, Shoots
An evergreen bamboo. The culms are single and spread 60 cm apart. They come from a long creeping rhizome. They are bright green and 8-15 m long by 4-6 cm wide. The internodes are 30-50 cm long. The walls are thin. They are about 6 mm thick. The culm sheath is 13-18 cm long. The blade is long and narrow and tapers to the tip. It is 30 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. The flowers droop. There are branches along one side with clusters of 3-4 spikelets. These are 1.2 cm long and spiny. The fruit are 10 cm long by 7.5 cm wide. They are fleshy and pear shaped. There is a curved beak at the end. There can be 8-10 fruit in a cluster around each node. Flowering occurs at intervals of about 30 years.