Chusquea quila, or Spanish: quila, is a perennial bamboo that grows in the humid temperate forests of Chile and Argentina.
| Chusquea quila | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Chusquea |
| Species: | C. quila
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| Binomial name | |
| Chusquea quila Kunth (1829)
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In contrast to most bamboos, it grows as a dense, climbing or decumbent shrub. Its aerial culms are solid, unlike most bamboos, which have hollow culms. Chusquea quila may form pure stands called quilantales occupying all the understory of a forest. Chusquea quila and whole quilantales flower every 10 to 30 years (or 18 to 20 years in some accounts).[1] The seeding that follow the flowering has been associated to mice vermin.[1]
Flour can be prepared from its seeds and its shoots are edible.[2] Chusquea quila species have been historically harvested for seed by indigenous peoples.[1] Mapuche and Pehuenche people are reported to have made flour of the seeds.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Pardo B., Oriana; Pizarro, José Luis (2014). Chile: Plantas alimentarias Prehispánicas (in Spanish) (2015 ed.). Arica, Chile: Ediciones Parina. pp. 150–152. ISBN 9789569120022.
- ^ "Chusquea quila", Enciclopedia de la Flora Chilena (in Spanish), retrieved July 30, 2013