Some anatomical and selected physical properties of two bamboo species grown in Ghana

The need for alternative resource for wood in Ghana has never become more pressing than iii recent times when there is so much pressure. unprecedented in scope and magnitude, on the existing timber resource. As part of the search for this ‘alternative resource’ this study was conducted on some anatomical and physical properties of the internodes of two bamboo species, namely, Bambusa vulgaris and Bambusa arundinacea grown in Ghana. The overall objective was to assess the wood qualities of these species as the basis for determining their potential uses for specific wood products. Variations in anatomical and physical properties were analysed along the Culm and across the internodes wall within and between sites, and within and between species. The relationship between anatomical and physical properties was also investigated. Five (5) whole culms of B. vulgaris, the dominant bamboo species in Ghana, were taken from each of two sites, and four (4) whole culms of B. arundinacea were taken from one site. The anatomical properties studied included: the proportions of ground tissue parenchyma, fibre and conducting tissue: and fibre properties such as length, diameter, lumen diameter, wall thickness and runkel ratio. Also, the type of vascular bundle was described. The physical properties included moisture content, basic density and shrinkages — radial and tangential. Main statistical tools used were the Mean, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Simple Regression. The results showed that the predominant vascular bundle type of the two species was the “broken-waist type” (Type Ill), with Type IV vascular bundle, however, found in combination with Type Ill at basal internodes. The species studied had anatomical and physical properties that are comparable, in distribution, proportion and dimension. to those of the same species and other species elsewhere. This means that our bamboos — B vulgaris and B. arundincicea — could be used for many of the products that bamboos elsewhere arc used for. Also, within the species there was not much variation along the Culm in important properties such as fibre, parenchyma and conducting tissue proportions: fibre length and basic density. There was also no significant variation between the two sites of B. valgaris (the dominant bamboo species in Ghana) in most of the properties studied. The implications are that the quality of many products from these bamboos would not vary much along the Culm, and that products from a large plantation of B. vulgaris would not exhibit much variation in quality. The strong correlation that existed between most anatomical and physical properties could serve as a useful tool in predicting working qualities of these bamboos. The most important anatomical property responsible for variation in moisture content and shrinkage between the species was seen to be the amount of parenchyma. Since the variation in fibre proportion was not significant between the two species studied. the amount of fibre alone could not have accounted for the significant variation in basic density observed between the two species.

Source: KNUST