Indocalamus is a genus of about 35 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae), native to central and southern China, Hainan, Vietnam, and Laos. They are quite small evergreen bamboos normally up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in height, initially forming clumps and then spreading to form larger thickets. They have thick, glossy leaves. Ruo leaves, used to wrap foods such as rice to produce zong during the Dragon Boat Festival, originated in Fujian and referred to Indocalamus longiauritus originally but now are nonspecific to just about any leaf wrap.
Scientists found bacteria living inside the roots of a tough bamboo species growing on toxic lead-zinc mine waste, and adding these bacteria back to plants changed how much lead got trapped in roots versus moved into shoots. This could help engineer safer, more effective plants for cleaning up contaminated mining sites.
