{{Short description|Genus of grasses}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = |display_parents = 3 |taxon = Melocanna |authority = Trin. |type_species_authority = Trin. |type_species = ''Melocanna bambusoides''<br />(syn of ''M. baccifera)''<ref name=q/> |synonyms = ''Beesha'' <small>Kunth</small> }}
'''''Melocanna''''' is a genus of Asian clumping bamboo in the grass family.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14338177#page/53/mode/1up Trinius, Carl Bernhard von. 1820. Neue Entdeckungen im Ganzen Umfang der Pflanzenkunde 2: 43. ] descriptions in Latin, commentary in German</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40016719 Tropicos, ''Melocanna'' Trin.]</ref>
The 48-year cycle of ''M. baccifera'' in northeastern India is responsible for the phenomenon called "''mautam''" or "bamboo death", in which large populations of bamboo flower at the same time, this being followed by a plague of rats, which in turn triggers a famine within the human populations.
;Species<ref name=q>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=424002 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Melocanna The Plant List search for ''Melocanna'']</ref> # ''Melocanna arundina'' <small>C.E.Parkinson</small> – Thailand, Myanmar; naturalized in parts of southern China # ''Melocanna baccifera'' <small>(Roxb.) Kurz</small> - Nagaland, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Bangladesh, Myanmar; sparingly naturalized in parts of West Indies and South America
;Formerly included<ref name=q/> see ''Bambusa, Cephalostachyum, Gigantochloa, Nastus, Ochlandra'', and ''Schizostachyum'' {{Columns-list|colwidth=30em| * ''M. clarkei – Cephalostachyum mannii'' * ''M. elegantissima – Nastus elegantissimus'' * ''M. excelsa – Gigantochloa verticillata'' * ''M. gracilis – Schizostachyum gracile'' * ''M. kurzii – Bambusa schizostachyoides'' * ''M. rheedei – Ochlandra scriptoria'' * ''M. virgata – Cephalostachyum virgatum'' * ''M. zollingeri – Schizostachyum zollingeri'' }}
==References== {{Wikispecies}} {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3310449}}
Category:Bambusoideae Category:Bambusoideae genera