Hi. Last year a propagated several large pieces of what I thought was P. Nigra. I used a sawzall to cut through the rhizome. Not an easy task. Anyway, my question is... after looking at Timor and Lako I'm not really sure if what I have is P. Nigra or not. I know the others are clumpers but does that mean that they don't have the solid thick rhizome? Just because the bamboo has a thick solid rhizome, is that a fair way of knowing that it is a running bamboo?

Thanks,

Rhizomes on a clumper (most anyway) will not go very far horizontally before they turn upward/vertical and make a new culm - often just a few inches before they 'J'. Runners will go horizontally indefinitely, culms will go vertical off them but they keep going. So if you have more than a very few inches of ___ shaped rhizome, you likely have a runner.

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Brad Salmon, zone 5b/6 Southern Indiana
Winters -20 to -25C. Summers 30 to 35C , humid. 115 cm annual precipitation, frost free from May through early October. 259.3 meters elevation. Growing 150+ species. http://www.needmorebamboo.com/