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Here's one for you

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:35 pm
by jsereda
I wanted to start a grove in my backyard with a bamboo that I found at one of my job sites in MD. So I snatched up some small divisions and have some nice shoots this year. I have no idea what kind it is but the mother colony is really cool looking. Here's some of the new shoots (you can see the new canes are almost black) and the shoots have a nice wine color. Also I've attached a picture of the mother colony. Let me know what you think possible ID's may be. Thanks.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:09 am
by Deane
Looks like Phyllostachys aureosulcata Alata to me, maybe some one else can confirm on here

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:43 am
by Tarzanus
I would also say it's most likely to be Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'alata'. Culm texture seems to be rough (soil sticking to it) and it shows some curving of the culm. Nice and vigorous bamboo!

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 10:01 pm
by jsereda
Thanks, I'll research alta and see if it matches the adult. I couldn't post more pics when starting this thread, 3 maximum, and couldn't post a reply with more pics because the topic had to be approved. So I'll post them later when I have time.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 12:59 am
by jsereda
Here are some more pics, one of the mother colony.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:44 pm
by Deane
I still think the same but I am no expert

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:09 pm
by jsereda
Any other takers?
I've searched the googles for phyllostachys alata and didn't really find many photo's but the ones I found show a lot of very crooked stems. I know I posted a picture of one that has the crooked stem but it's no where near as crooked as what the image search pulled up. The mother colony showed almost no crooked stems.
I was thinking maybe bisetti? I've also though it might look a little like nuda but the white ring isn't as pronounced. In the mother colony the tops do seem to arch a bit.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:59 pm
by dependable
The areosulcatas send up crooked stems sometimes, but not all the time. The have a roughish surface to culms. Bissett and nuda smooth. The culm sheath color is right for aureosulcata, with the purpleish stripes. If it is all green, with no yellow on stem, then it is P aureosulcata 'alata'.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:11 pm
by Deane
I would say that shoot is 100% aureosulcata , my one has no zigzag culms

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:24 pm
by jsereda
Right on. :)

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:06 pm
by jsereda
Tarzanus wrote:I would also say it's most likely to be Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'alata'. Culm texture seems to be rough (soil sticking to it) and it shows some curving of the culm. Nice and vigorous bamboo!
I've read a little about this "rough texture" thing. What I've read is that when you rub upward on new culms it has a sandpaper feel. Is this trait a sure thing with alata? I went out and felt the newer and older culms this morning and they are very smooth. In the first picture you reference with the dirt sticking to them, that was the morning of an extremely heavy rain and the sandy soil we have splashed up onto everything, even my aluminum fence posts.
Is Alata in the same family as yellow grove? My neighbor has a grove of that and I can compare textures.

My concern here is that I want a screen in 2-3 years and if this isn't Alata and turns out to be something like Nuda I've read it can take a very long time for the bamboo to size up. If that is the case I'll fill in with some other types but really my main goal is to have one type of bamboo.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:17 pm
by dependable
Nuda has dark blotches on culm sheaths. Mature nuda culms also have thicker walls than most Phyllostachys. Those light purple lined ones in your picture look like aurosulcata. I suppose they could be something else. If they were dark purple, I'd say flexiosa, which is a pretty fast plant, though not as big or cold hardy as aureosulcata. Someone else might know what looks similar to alata that has smooth culms, I only know what I grow, and that is not everything. All the aureosulcatas I have felt have the sandpaper effect, but on some it is like very fine sandpaper.

Arureosulcata means yellow groove, or plant the Latin equivalent. So yes, alata is a variety of yellow groove, it just does not have yellow in its groove.

Another possibility is that could be a mixed grove, with some alata and some of something else. This happens all the time, as a lot of bamboo collectors and nurseries end up letting their groves mix, unintentionally of otherwise. I often plant mixed groves on purpose for my customers, that way if one of the species flowers in a few years they won't loose all their screening.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:24 pm
by jsereda
Thanks, I'm going to go check out my neighbors grove and compare the culm feel. I guess the juvenile shoots I posted could betray identity? There's another thread next to mine asking about dulculis shoots, those plants and shoots look nearly identical to mine.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:53 pm
by iain
I do not know the 'Alata' form, but the colour of the culm sheaths in your initial post corresponds to my Ph. aureosulcata 'Spectabilis.' You would certainly know the species and its forms by the rough texture of the internodes, which are not dissimilar to the feel of Pampas grass.

Re: Here's one for you

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 8:40 pm
by dependable
All the aurosulcata shoots I have seen, the species, alata, spectabilis, aurocaulis and harbin have the same color culm sheaths.