Which Phyllostachys is this?

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johnw
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Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

About 10 years ago a friend gave me a Phyllostachys without a label, at the time he thought it was flexuosa, dulcis or bissettii. I may have mixed it up with a Phyllostachys nuda I already had. The gift may have been flexuosa but if so flexuosa for me flowered and died some years ago - without producing seed. The only Phyllostachys I had not planted at the time was a P. nuda. So this mystery P. could be one of these four or something entirely different.

It had been ill-treated and left in a pot for far too long. Last year and the year before it produced no canes due to exhausted soil, so making an identiciation was impossible. I planted it out about 5-6 weeks ago at a local nursing home courtyard garden that is extremely protected by 2 stories on all four sides. Suddenly today I count 7 new very small shoots. As you can see the old canes never came straight out of the ground but curved out and then up.

I have a P. nuda label on it and you can see a bit of white powder abopve and below the new nodes - something I don't think it has ever exhibited in the past. I surely hope someone can identify it and tell me what the distinguishing features were. I wonder if this long-suffering individual will ever gain some size? :roll:
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Halifax-20120531-00338.jpg
Last edited by johnw on Thu May 31, 2012 8:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

And two more pix of the same mystery Phyllostachys.
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Halifax-20120531-00342.jpg
Halifax-20120531-00347.jpg
Last edited by johnw on Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

There is a remote chance that this Phyllostachys is a species other than the ones mentioned. In August 1991 this donor friend and I were at the Arnold Arboretum and were given shovels and pots to take pieces of the Phyllos in their collection. Perhaps we inadvertently got a stray piece of a species we had not intended to get.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by richr »

Good Morning John - I have 10 plants of Rubromarginata that I planted last year. Your pictures look very much like the same that I have. I also compared it to Rubromarginata in the forum pictures and they look very much the same.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

Rich - Thanks so much, I think you have nailed it. Seems so obvious now with that red margin on the apical sheath. There are very minute hairs just at the base of the culm leaf but these are not discernible in the pic I posted, the site will not allow me to increase the size of the photo to show these.

Either rubromarginata was shipped as nuda or we inadvertently dug a bit of it at the Arnold though I don't recall seeing it there.

Thanks for this Rich.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by needmore »

Given the juvenile status of the shoots, ID attempts are guesses, mine is Phy humilis.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by richr »

I agree with Needmore, it could be Humulis, but I don't have that specie to compare it with.
I do notice that on the Rubro, the dying leaves have this coloration, unlike any other of the species I have. They are a bright dark orange with spots. The other species just turn white and fall off.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

Rich / Brad - I don't know if the leaf colouration is diagnotic and I don't recall ever seeing dying leaves turning any colour other than beige. I spoke to my friend and he agrees the plant either came from the Arnold or The Plant Farm in B.C. I see their present catalogue lists P. humilis and no rubromarginata but I would really have to do some digging to find an old catalogue from the late 1990's to see what they carried back then. The sheaths are flushed purplish but the veins are purple.

It has never exhibited any great vigour.

Thanks for your help.

P. parvifolia just peeping up today at 16c.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by richr »

It looks like Humulis!

Phyllostachys Humilis


Origin: China

Height: 3-4 metres

Hardiness: - 25 degrees celcius; Zone 5b

Exposure: Sun or Light Shade

Use: Hedging or low screen


The Phyllostachys Humilis is one of the shortest growing Phyllostachys and grows well to form a dense screen.
The culms of this bamboo change during the growing season from dark reddish brown, to a fresh green and then show a tint of orange as they mature.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

P. humilis is starting to ring a distant bell. I'll ask friend if he recalls that name.

Strange I have never seen anything but green culms new or old, perhaps too much shade.

Thanks Brad & Rich again.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by needmore »

Mine are always just green, I think the color change must be environmental, this year it overheard me say I was going to kill it off and it produced new culms of about 4m, perhaps a bit bigger. It looks very much like bissetii but the shoots will have some cream striping. A prolific shooter I must have culled a couple hundred shoots this year in a fairly small area.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by foxd »

This has certainly been the year for increased size, plants that have never been very large have put up amazing shoots this year. I have Henon that is taller than the dulcis and Robert Young that looks like it is going to be nearly as tall as the Yellow Groove. B. densiforum has produced canes large enough to be interesting to look at considering I had never noticed the hairs attached to the bottom of the culm sheaths before. Ps. japonica is now in the eight foot range. Even P. nigra is 12 foot tall.

BTW, the ABS is still looking for people to enter the biggest bamboo contest. Entries should be 1.5 inches in diameter of larger measured at 4 feet from the ground. Entries should include location and be sent to Frasier Bingham of the ABS. Or you could send me the information in a PM and I could pass it along.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by johnw »

Brad - I checked the books last night, Bell, Meredith and Whittaker, and they all say P. humilis has dark young canes. I've never seen dark canes, in fact the strong glossy green young and old culms are noteworthy.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by bamboothew »

My humilis here seems to be extremely dark green at sheath fall, almost black, and then later the culms lighten to a fresh green.
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Re: Which Phyllostachys is this?

Post by needmore »

[quote="foxd"BTW, the ABS is still looking for people to enter the biggest bamboo contest. Entries should be 1.5 inches in diameter of larger measured at 4 feet from the ground. Entries should include location and be sent to Frasier Bingham of the ABS. Or you could send me the information in a PM and I could pass it along.[/quote]

Dan, I don't have Frasier's contact info but measured some candidates yesterday:

1) Vivax huanwenzhu Inversa - 1.50
2) Phy viridis - 1.90
3) Dulcis - 1.70
4) Yellow Groove - 1.60
5) aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis - 1.50
6) spectabilis - 1.60
7) atrovaginata - 2.60
#8) parvifolia - 1.75
9) rubromarginata - 2.00
10) glauca 'Yunzhu' - 1.75

Those are measured as per 'rules' but my calipers are advertising junk fro AM Leonard and perhaps not so precise, I am guessing sizes as there are not numeric increments, better calipers may yield slightly different results.
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