About Chusquea quila Kunth
Chusquea quila Kunth, commonly called quila in Spanish, is a perennial bamboo species native to the humid temperate forests of Chile and Argentina. Unlike most bamboos, it grows as a dense, climbing or decumbent shrub, and its aerial culms are solid rather than hollow. This species can form pure stands called quilantales, which completely occupy a forest's understory. Chusquea quila, along with entire quilantales, flowers every 10 to 30 years, though some sources note a flowering interval of 18 to 20 years. Seeding after flowering is associated with outbreaks of pest mice. Its seeds can be processed into flour, and its shoots are edible. Historically, indigenous peoples harvested this species for its seeds; specifically, the Mapuche and Pehuenche people are recorded to have made flour from Chusquea quila seeds.
