BAMBUSA SPINOSA Roxb                                                                                              KAUAYAN

Bambusa spinosa Blume

Bambusa blumeana Schultes f.

Bambus pungens Blanco

Bambus arundo Blanco

Bambus arundinacea F.-Vill.

Bambusa teba Miq.

Local names: Aonóo (Bik.); batakan (Bis.); baugin (Pamp.); dugían (Bik.); caña espina (Sp.); kaaono (Bis.); kauayan (P. Bis., Bon., C. Bis., Bik., Ilk., Pamp., Sub., Sul., Tag.); kauayan-gid (P. Bis.); kauayan-ng-bayog (Ilk.); kauayan-potog (Sbl.); kauayan-siitan (Ilk.); kauayan-tinik (Tag.); kauayan-totoo (Tag., Bik.); kabagauan (Bik.); lamnuan (Is.); maruugi (Bik.); pasingan (Ibn., Is.); paua (Bis.); rugian (Bik.); spiny bamboo (Eng.).

The spiny bamboo is found throughout the Philippines at low and medium altitudes in the settled areas. It was introduced here at an early date. It also occurs in Southern China to the Malay Peninsula and from the Archipelago to the Moluccas.

The stems are 10 to 25 meters high, and 8 to 15 centimeters in diameter, with the basal parts surrounded by stiff, branched interlaced, spiny branches. The leaves are 10 to 20 centimeters long, 1 to 2 centimeters wide. It is rarely found in flower. The panicles are large. The spikelets are slender, compressed and 2 to 3 centimeters long.

This bamboo is by far the most commonly used species in the Philippines. It is most useful for building purposes and for the manufacture of furniture and household utensils. The young shoots are fairly tender and are used for food. Bamboo shoots (labong, Tag) are only fair sources of calcium and iron; they contain 1.776 percent of protein and 4.24 percent of carbohydrates.

According to Guerrero a decoction of the roots is administered in cases of anuria. Nadkarni reports that the silicious concretions in the culm contain  90 percent of silica or silicum as hydrate of silicic acid, peroxide of iron, potash, lime, aluminia and vegetable matter. The leaves are used as an emmenagogue and an anthelmintic. The silicious concretion is said to be stimulant, astringent, tonic, cooling, antispasmodic and aphrodisiac, and is useful in coughs, consumption, asthma, etc. He adds that the young shoots, made into poultice, are a most efficacious application for dislodgement of worms from ulcers. The bud of the leaf is also used in leprosy, fevers and haemoptysis. The root is given as a specific in eruptive affections.