A comparative study on anatomical characteristics of the mutations of Phyllostachys bambusoides: Ssanggol- and min-bamboo

The anatomical characteristics of the culms and culm bases of ssanggol- and min-bamboo, which are mutated species of Phyllostachys bambusoides, were investigated using optical microscopy to understand the material properties. The vascular bundles in the culms and culm bases of both species were type I. There were a few abnormal vascular bundles in the culm base of ssanggol-bamboo, and more developed fiber bundles in the inner part of min-bamboo. A wavy surface was observed in the pith cavity of the ssanggol-bamboo culms. In the inner part, the vascular bundles of min-bamboo culms showed a regular diagonal arrangement, whereas those of ssanggol-bamboo were distributed randomly. In the culm base, ssanggol-bamboo had a significantly higher proportion of parenchyma and vessels, whereas min-bamboo had a higher fiber proportion. Both species had comparable proportions of cells in their culms. The vascular bundle density of min-bamboo was significantly higher than that of ssanggol-bamboo, whereas ssanggol-bamboo showed a significantly larger vessel diameter than min-bamboo. Ssanggol-bamboo had a shorter parenchyma cell length and larger parenchyma cell width than min-bamboo, whereas the min-bamboo culm showed a longer fiber length than that of ssanggol-bamboo. Furthermore, in the culm base, the fibers of ssanggol-bamboo were longer.