Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

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Glen
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Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

I have been growing multiple clumps of Bambusa textilis 'Kanapapa' for quite a few years. My original plant was obtained from a collector in Texas who received his plant directly from the original clump at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville, so I am certain of the identity of my plants.

Beginning about one year ago, I noticed that new culms were not rooting well, and were falling over during the winter. I have never seen B. textilis do this.

Then this summer, my plants produced shoots that were the same size or smaller than the previous year's shoots. A large clump blew over in a storm that was not very severe... again very unusual. I was starting to think something was wrong with my plants!

In my area, B. textilis produces shoots in summer and fall. These shoots do not branch until the following spring. This year, the new shoos mostly produced branches and small leaves in late fall. Something was definitely wrong!

A couple days ago, I went out to look at my plants and made the discovery that my 'Kanapaha' plants were starting to flower. I believe all my clumps are entering a flowering phase, even newer small divisions.

As has been previously discussed on this forum, this clone is PI 80872, originally brought to the United States in 1929.
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal ... id=1118484

I have seen nothing to indicate that this clone has flowered since it was imported, so perhaps it is about time that it flowered! It will be very interesting to see whether the clone survives this event, and whether it produces seed.

Nothing particularly unusual has happened to stress my plants, so I think this is likely a mass flowering of this clone. I do not think that many tropical bamboo growers are active here anymore, but I would be interested to hear whether anyone else is seeing flowering on this clone.

As a side note, I think one benefit of seeing this plant flower is that it will help to answer whether a few similar plants are the same clone or not. If this is a mass flowering event, and these other plants are the same clone as 'Kanapaha', then the plants being traded under other names should flower as well. I have one other form of B. textilis that came from a different source, and I have wondered if it is identical to 'Kanapaha'. Even though it looks visually indistinguishable, it is not showing any signs of flowering so far.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by needmore »

I have obtained 7 differently named forms of B textilis, one is Kanapaha from FL which is still a young plant so I'll keep an eye on them all.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Glen
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

Brad,

Do you have the one that is sold as Bambusa textilis 'Mutabilis' (Emerald Bamboo)?

I have a very small one that I just got this past year from Florida. A lot of people seem to think this is the same plant as 'Kanapaha'.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by needmore »

I do have one from a nursery in Davis CA, not sure where he picked it up from. Thus far it has been slow and unimpressive which might suggest it is not the famous Kanapaha. It is opposite a T gracilis lining the sidewalk approach to my house and it is much more of an open clumper and a bit sloppy for adjacent to a pathway, sizing up like all my other forms yet.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Roy »

I have noticed no flowering on any of my B. Textilis’, but I will do a visual inspection looking specifically looking for any signs of flowering.

I am one who believes there is no difference between B. Tex. “Emerald” and B. Tex. “Kanapha”. Many years ago I did post pictures, on Bambooweb, of identifying characteristics of each bamboo, plus challenging members to show me any differences.

The person I got my “B. Tex. Emerald” from said that she got her plant from a lady living near Gainesville, Florida. Gainesville, Florida is the Florida “Home of the Famous B. Tex. Kanapha” at Kanapha Gardens.

Roy Rogers
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STFU Motto: All Bamboos are not Created Equal; @ STFU, the Search Continues
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Glen
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

Roy,

Thanks for the input!

My plants are fairly early in the flowering process. I need to post some pictures :).
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by needmore »

No sign of flowers on my Kanapaha or Mutabilis as of yet.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

I posted a couple photographs of the pseudospikelets. I have not seen any open flowers yet.

Image

Image

The photographs do not seem to show up in this post. I am not sure why.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by needmore »

If this turns out to be a wide spread flowering it will be interesting to see if other named forms of B textilis also come into flower.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Tarzanus »

Glen wrote: The photographs do not seem to show up in this post. I am not sure why.
I think there's a setting in phpbb set to only show on-site images and it doesn't allow BBCode images to load.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

Just a mid-August update on this thread...

Most of my 'Kanapaha' clumps flowered heavily in successive flushes from winter into summer. I believe they have finally stopped flowering. Most of the culms that flowered have now died.

A few clumps produced very few flowers, and are now shooting, but not strongly. All the clumps that flowered have a few small older culms that did not flower, but I have not seen much new growth yet.

My "regular" Bambusa textilis plants from the West Coast are shooting normally, with no sign of flowering. Also, my small plant of 'Mutabilis' shows no sign of flowering. This is not exactly a scientific study, but it does lend some evidence to the idea that all these plants are indeed different clones of Bambusa textilis.

While I have quite a few large flowering clumps, and I did check frequently, I found no seeds. However, by looking around the parents, I have found around 30 seedlings hiding in the grass. Since I have noticed a few of them getting eaten by rabbits or insects, I am potting up seedlings so that I can grow them out in a controlled environment. I will try to post some pictures soon.
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Alan_L »

Good catch on spotting the seedlings!
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Re: Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' Flowering

Post by Glen »

Here is a picture of the seedlings. Hopefully, the cage will prevent them from escaping :-D.

Image
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