Colihue
March 19th, 2009 Posted in floraWritten by Shanie
The Colihue (Chusquea culeaou) has an interesting story…
A bamboo plant that spans the Andes mountains from the Neuquen to Chubut provinces, this long-living cane is a virgin of sorts.
A plant that normally divides itself through old subterranean roots (rhizomes), the Colihue has a special phenomenon-like trait that has scientists and naturalists baffled.
Every 40 to 60 years these thin, strong, green arms that reach for the sky in bundles have a spontaneous and massive flowering event. With the passing of a half century, the colonies of Colihue bamboo have a surge of health, helping them to pollinate, create fruit and then spread millions of little seeds to cover the forest floor.
The sad part… the beautiful Colihue is only allowed to enjoy the process of pollination once in its life and then it dies. With the culmination of spreading its seed of love and dying, it then takes ten to fifteen years for the thick canes to decompose.
The last time there was a Colihue flowering party was in the spring of 2000. The Parque Nacional Lanín and the northern section of Nahuel Huapi both saw a surge of bamboo growth, which eventually took over 80 thousand hectares.
There are a few issues that are possible from the massive flowering:
- an abundance of seeds means an increase in food for rodents, therefore increasing their population numbers. This is a particular concern due to the dangers of the Hanta Virus, a deadly pulmonary disease carried by rodents.
- dead canes equal fire danger
- the open areas left over from the Colihue moving on to greener pastures are a growing playground for aggressive exotic species like Pine, Rose Hip and Witch’s Broom, which invade and kill native plants.
It is said by locals that there was a massive flowering back in 1938. If all calculations are correct, we may soon be seeing the rest of the Nahuel Huapi park going into another act of a lifetime.
Literally.
