Phyllostachys virella

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Phyllostachys virella

Post by johnw »

I wonder what Groene Prins Nursery means by this?

"Phyllostachys virella - Not suited to our climate, this bamboo."

http://www.degroeneprins.nl/en/plant-da ... 0&start=40

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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by Alan_L »

Similarly, Ph. rubromarginata is "almost identical to rubromarginata". They might have missed one entry, which offset some of the descriptions?
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by johnw »

Alan - Such a description would be very fitting for some nurseries. :wink:

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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by needmore »

Virella greatly resembles rubromarginata but those are not next to each other on their list, thus a slight mis-alignment would fit well. Several of the hardiness listings are off as well. I think on Jos' site he has multiple clones of rubromarginata so that may almost explain the listing as one would expect one clone to resemble another...
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by ShmuBamboo »

Alan_L wrote:Similarly, Ph. rubromarginata is "almost identical to rubromarginata".
Hmmm, I would say that my rubromarginata is identical to my rubromarginata. :bom:

Mr. Needmore, is your Phy. virella (seemingly the only legal one ever imported into the US) like Atrovaginata as you describe on your web site, or more like rubro? Phy. atrovaginata grows faster and is more vigorous here than red margin is. Atro and vivax are two of my fastest growers in zone 7b/8a. They are the most common boos to run rhizomes out of pots here when sunk in the ground.
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by johnw »

ShmuBamboo wrote:Hmmm, I would say that my rubromarginata is identical to my rubromarginata. :bom:
Which reminds me of this true story. The Queen walked into a small shop in a village near one of her residences - Windsor maybe - one day. The owner said to her "oh my you look so much like the Queen!". To which she replied "How very reassuring."
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by needmore »

ShmuBamboo wrote:
Alan_L wrote:Similarly, Ph. rubromarginata is "almost identical to rubromarginata".
Hmmm, I would say that my rubromarginata is identical to my rubromarginata. :bom:

Mr. Needmore, is your Phy. virella (seemingly the only legal one ever imported into the US) like Atrovaginata as you describe on your web site, or more like rubro? Phy. atrovaginata grows faster and is more vigorous here than red margin is. Atro and vivax are two of my fastest growers in zone 7b/8a. They are the most common boos to run rhizomes out of pots here when sunk in the ground.
As I describe on my website, my sources in Europe described it as being atrovaginta-like but to me it is more rubromarginata-like. Enough so that I followed up a couple of years later to see if perhaps I had been given the wrong species since it looks much like rubromarginata. Based on photos & my description they reassured me that it was indeed virella and that was one they were confident could not have been mis-ID'd. They agreed with the rubromarginata appearance but restated the reference to atrovaginata apparently due to the scent of the culms, culm structure and a few other points - I don't see it very strongly myself. The shoots look like a cross between rubro/heteroclada but not quite either and the new culms are the color/sheen of rubro but structured a bit different and the nodal rings are a bit different. Thus far the leaves are larger than atrovaginata and the plant seems to get taller & skinner like rubro, not wide like atrovaginata.

Ian Connor & Jim Bonner may have imported it as well, I'm not sure?
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by ShmuBamboo »

Thanks for the clarification. The virella rhizome growth out of the plastic pot photo on your site is rather impressive. Enough to give Ms Rickel nightmares.
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by Alan_L »

Brad -- what would you say the size potential of virella is? (Culm diameter and height) I saw it listed as 5cm, 9m tall. Reasonable?
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by needmore »

Can't speculate Alan, mine hated the drought last year and did not up size, it still is not so large but those figures seem optimistic to me. Mine seems to be more focused on quantity of culms as opposed to size and I have not really babied it as I have some other species which means that it has not caught my attention much.
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by jd. »

It's past year two for the virella here and the biggest culm came up at 1.2 cm in diameter.

After its first year, I pulled out 8 meters of escaping rhizomes. So far, this virella seems more interested in spreading out than growing up. :o
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by johnw »

jd - 1.2cm seems pretty impressive in year 2. How big was it when you planted it?
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by jd. »

Offhand, that root ball appeared to be a squat five gallons with the plant waist high or less.

The new shoots do remind me of rubromarginata shoots, but with a darker red or maroon coloration on the margins.
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by johnw »

Now that Brad has raised expectations a bit for virella's potential hardiness it's hard to explain why there is so little information out there. The Flora of China says it's from elev. 100m in Zhejiang which would indicate it being very tender. They also say synonymous with P. meyeri. Yet another site or sites says a variant of rubromarginata. Has anyone grown it long enough to see it reach its full potential and able to compare it with species?

How did it fare last year?

Brillant day here at 5c.
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Re: Phyllostachys virella

Post by jd. »

The virella here suffered topkill last winter with temperatures down to -27° C (-18° F). It's a survivor, including a recent rhizome division planted out in the open with little care amid the brome grass. Since last winter, recovery growth of that virella bamboo reaches about a meter high.

In terms of absolute winter hardiness (rhizome lives or dies), none of my observations so far can exclude Phyllostachys virella from being one of the hardiest Phyllostachys bamboos.
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