Culm-sheaths as well as other vegetative
parts are generally used for the identification
of species of bamboos because flowering
occurs at long intervals. Identification of
species in this group was originally based on
floral characters and where these characters
were lacking or found to be inadequate,
the culm-sheath characters were taken into
consideration. Subsequently, keys were prepared
on the basis of culm-sheath characters
(Chatterji and Raizada 1963). Such keys are
difficult to follow and sometimes confusing.
This is partly due to the lack of proper and
adequate descriptions of culm-sheaths and
partly due to considerable variation existing
in the culm-sheaths themselves even in the
same culm(Peal 1882)-a point that has always