Studies on Reproductive Development and Breeding Habit of the Commercially Important Bamboo Bambusa tulda Roxb

Compared to other grasses, flowering in bamboo is quite divergent, yet complex with respect to time to flower, number of individual culms in a population that have been induced at a time (sporadic vs. gregarious), nature of monocarpy, morphology of inflorescences (solitary spikelet vs. pseudospikelet), biology of pollen and nature of genetic compatibility. Wide diversity exists even across species and genotypes. However, due to the rarity of flowering and inaccessibility, few studies have been done to systematically analyse diverse aspects of the reproductive behaviour of bamboo. In this study, four recurrently occurring, sporadic flowering populations of Bambusa tulda have been closely observed over the last seven years. Detailed inflorescence and floral morphology and development of reproductive organs have been studied. Pollen viability was assessed by staining and in vitro germination. Self and cross pollination experiments were performed in a plantation site to assess the genetic nature of pollen-pistil interaction. The study identifies interesting reproductive features, that are not common in other grasses. A few important observations include the early appearance of a solitary spikelet vs. late appearance of a pseudospikelet in the flowering cycle, low rate of pollen germination, protandry, self-incompatibility and higher rate of seed setting by the pseudospikelet as compared to the solitary spikelet. The findings will not only be useful to understand the reproductive behaviour of this non-woody timber plant, but will also be useful for forest management and sustainable use of bamboo bioresources.