We have this giant timber bamboo. My husband thinks it will get 3-4" in diameter and 40'+ eventually. No clue what it's called!! Any ideas?

Culm sheeth has a lot of purple streaking perhaps a Bambusa corniger. Just a wild guess.
MarCat
Oh do not go by the pics here on Boo Web they are of odashimae I beleive not corniger.

Come on Boo Nut haven't you read this posting yet??
MarCat

Looks a lot like my Dendrocalamus Grandis. Without a little more detail, it is hard to tell for sure. Does not look like my B. Odashimae. I would say it is more likely to be a Dendrocalamus than a Bambusa. Close up of the culm sheaths would help. I noticed some of the redish/purple streaks on the culm sheaths before. Very nice bamboo.

Some Bambusa have the purplish streaks. So hard to tell for sure. I saw a lot of bamboo labeled Bambusa Oldhamii at a nursery outside Corpus a few years ago that had a lot of purple streaks. I contacted the owner and was told about the history and he said they were probably Bambusa Edulis. There is a lot of wrongly identified bamboo out there.

These bamboo looked just like Bambusa Oldhamii, but had the purple streaks.

Ok... you have my two cents.

I am really enjoying Bambusa Beecheyana "pubescens". I have been fertilizing and giving it a lot of tender loving care. With all the rain we have been getting, it is really putting up some very straight and tall culms. Normally, the culms lean way over. All the new ones are perfectly straight. Very nice bamboo.

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Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com

Juat got me a Beechy pubescence still have it potted waiting till I can divide it before I plant one. Lost my regular Beechy this winter to the freeze and it was sizing up nicely definately established but never liked the cold below 32. Last winters two nights in the teens nailed it.
Allen are not most of the pictures here on the web under B.corniger actually odashimae with the double nodes. Cool pics anyway.
MarCat

I believe the ones I posted under B. Odashimae are indeed Odashimae. The ones I posted under B. Cornigra are actually B. Odashimae. There was a lot of discussion at the time these were posted. Roy might chime in on those he posted as B. Cornigra. The B. Odashimae definitely has double nodes on about 30% of the culms at the base.

Identification of bamboo is very hard in the first place... the size of the bamboo, how much sun it gets, where it is grown, and many other factors can affect how it looks. The best method of identification is to match up the "look" with further research related to the culm sheaths. Of course that all depends on whether you have the best information to start with related to actual name.

I have a lot of books, but see conflicting information in the books. I know a lot of experts, but also hear conflicting opinions on correct ID. Some are very close in terms of characteristics.

If I ever sell bamboo, I am going to propagate the bamboo and put the small pots next to the big plant. I will state where I got the original plant and what it was called at the time... and if I truly believe it was mislabeled, then I will post the correct ID. I am still sorting out my collection.

I suppose that is why many people don't post an identification without lots of details unless it is an easy ID. Just my 2 cents... and I am no expert. I know the bamboo I grow and that is about it.

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Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com

I think the low temps at my farm got down to between 24-26F at the farm. The beechy pubescence show no signs of the freeze. It does like plenty of fertilizer and water.

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Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com

B. cornigera shoot at the "farm"

My boo guy came by, said it's Oldhamii... did I tell you it was Mutabilis? That sounded like what he had told us originally.

So, I'm thinking it's probably Oldhamii and he just sold us the wrong one.

Just wanted to share a picture of Bambusa Lako with the purplish stripes. Most culm sheaths don't have this coloring. Just happens once in a while...

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Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com