Madake Shoots

[Matt in TN]

Every year I think "maybe this will be the winter my Madake makes it through strongly" - but not yet. Plant is looking pretty ratty right now, but the leaves are coming in and it's putting up some nice shoots. There's hope yet...

[Matt W]

Thanks for posting that photo Matt. I've been waiting for the one (supposed to be Madake) I got late last spring to shoot this year to help confirm if it really is. So if yours is also a late shooter that might be a good sign? Most everything else I have has started shooting.
Matt

[Matt in TN]

Yep - last year it was May before it started shooting. Patience...

[Matt W]

Mine finally started! I think the shoots look a lot like yours. What do you think? The reason I wondered about the Id on this one is the guy I got it from seemed somewhat unsure.



Matt

[Matt in TN]

Looks great! Mine's only pinky-sized at best. From what I've heard, the spots we both have are a defining characteristic and confirm that it's Madake. Other than that of course it should have thick walls, but I'm not cutting mine to find out!

I believe it is pretty darn close in looks to vivax. Supposedly you can tell them apart by squeezing a mature culm. The vivax has thin walls and will give, but the madake has thick walls and won't.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon to give you a better response - I'm just a newbie. If not, post that pic in the "Bamboo Identification" forum and you'll get a quick answer.

[Alan_L]

Phy. dulcis shoots look a bit like that too, but I don't grow Madake so can't directly compare. Anybody who grows both, can you comment on the differences?

[stevelau1911]

I can see that dulcis and bambusoides can be similar since they can look kind of segmented as they are rising, have short internodes, and drop off sheaths relatively quickly as they are rising, at least with dulcis.

The one way I think you can differentiate dulcis shoots, at least the ones I've seen from mine so far is that when they are coming up they'll have a purple striping on the sheaths, however I guess many species have the dark blotching.

Here's my 2009 dulcis shoot.


Here are the 2010 ones just a tad smaller, but 4 emerged instead of 1. I expect this year to have more than 4 on top of upsizing. This is kind of a far sot since I had to get all the shoots, but the purple striping can still be seen



I'm guessing bambusoides is not really striped, and has more of a green complexion under its spots. I'm sure there's probably a lot of exceptions, but that's my best analysis of these species.

[Alan_L]

Steve, my dulcis shoots don't have any striping.

[needmore]

I don't grow Madake so am not familiar with it - yet, I do have a Whitecrookstem to killnext winter - but it is my understanding that it's shoots are difficult to distinguish from Vivax and they are often confused. Mature Dulcis I believe will have fimbriae/little hairs on the shoots and your does not appear to.

[foxd]

Steve, where did you get your Dulcis?

[needmore]

I think his 2010 photo looks like Dulcis.

[stevelau1911]

Steve, where did you get your Dulcis?

Bamboo Gardens.

Once it starts shooting this year, I'll get some pictures of shoots that should look more like the mature form, and this year there's 5 culms instead of 1 so with 5X more foliage, and at least some rhizome growth, I'm expecting much bigger mature looking shoots this year.

Here's how it looks. I have it planted in a partially shaded location with trees around, and not much wind so it should do OK until it spreads out of that area which I doubt will happen since dulcis rhizomes run very slowly.

[Matt W]

Shooting time could be a consideration. When does Dulcis shoot relatively? According to Ted Jordan Meredith's, Bamboos, "Phyllostachys bambusoides is one of the latest shooting of the genus; P. vivax shoots relatively early."

He also mentioned P. bambusoides shoots are bitter compared to vivax. I would guess the same would be true of Dulcis. I'm just not about to taste one of the two shoots that I've waited a year for , maybe several years from now.

Matt

[Alan_L]

My dulcis just started shooting, and it's in a big container not the ground, so probably a little early compared to what it would do in the ground here, but maybe not.

Dulcis is also know as "sweetshoot" bamboo I think... or am I remembering wrong?

[foxd]

My Dulcis didn't put up any shoots last year. I haven't given up hope on it though. Maybe this year...