Propinqua, Nuda & Arcana shoots

[needmore]

David asked about comparing photos of Propinqua & Nuda but I also threw Arcana in the mix as to me it looks exactly like Nuda at least in a juvenille stage. The Propinqua blades are much more crinkly than Nuda but the Arcana isn't much different at all.

Propinqua

<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... ashoot.JPG" alt="PHYLLOSTACHYS propinqua ">


Nuda

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/ ... ashoot.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

Arcana

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/ ... ashoot.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

[Eric Layton]

Brad,
Does the arcana get the black splotches on the lower culm sheaths just like nuda? Hard to tell in that picture. Last year was the first time I noticed the splotches on my Ph. nuda. I guess it a characteristics of mature growth. All my phyllostachys are still just waiting around for warmer weather, no shoots yet! Decora has started to put out new leaves.
Eric

[needmore]

Eric, yes, lousy picture of the Arcan, I'll have another go at it, in fact I just changed the Propinqua photo to a better one. My Arcana is probably too young to show spots if the species does indeed do this.

[Thuja]

I guess if you go by the book, that propinqua shoot might look suspect. It's not supposed to have crinkled culm blades, its ligules aren't supposed to be so exserted (sticking up), and the ligules are supposed to be convex (curved upward, not straight). Oh well, that's what the good book says. Exceptions to the rule??? Could be. Things might change as the shoot gets taller.

All 3 are supposed to get spots on the culm sheaths.

[needmore]

Well, Thuja, as noted in an earlier post I am wondering if my Propinqua might be Praecox - how does this shoot compare to the book description of Praecox? I have shoots of the 'Propinua' now over 7 feet so I'll see if the blades look less crinkled as they elongate.

The feedback I've gotten such as Markj describing the leaves and others I've checked with say that Propinqua has the short internodes as well as the Praecox hasn't turned me towards or away from Propinqua ID. The Beijing cultivar has just now started shooting and its shoots look totally different - very much like Glauca in terms of blades and a very dark color but grayer than burgundy and the books usually mention the gray color of Beijing. The shoots look nothing at all like the 'Propinqua' proper so it seems very unlikely that these are the same species.

Anybody got Praecox shoot pics?

[Thuja]

It does say that P. praecox blades are narrow & strongly crinkled or flat in upper culms.

Just to complicate things a bit more, David Andrews thinks 'Beijing' might really be a form of P. flexuosa.

[needmore]

Well, they sure do look like Flexuosa shoots in coloration, the blades are more Glauca like.

I actually hope my Propinqua turns out to be Praecox. Then I could still get a Propinqua, plus I would be pleased with the hardiness & size of the Praecox! I've had it at the bottom of the list as I assume it is not very hardy, but I will be receiving the Praecox Viridisulcata today or tomorrow, couldn't pass a chance to get one of those.

[needmore]

O.K., I've seen a sketch of a Praecox shoot and it sure looks like my Propinqua BUT, another common description of Praecox is that it has very small leaves. My new Praecox Viridisulcata arrived today and boy does it have small leaves No way would I think that the leaves on my Propinquapraecox are that proportionally small after seeing this guy so I'm back to Propinqua but the shoots with their crinkly leaves don't match up...

I'd sure appreciate more input from folks with Propinqua out there...what do the shoots look like?

[David]

Brad,
I found this photo of propinqua in a collection by the late Richard Waldron. It's a scanned film pic so some detail lost. I have a larger file pic that I could email to you if you think it will help.

<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... Small).jpg" alt="PHYLLOSTACHYS propinqua ">

[needmore]

David, thanks for the offer but large files & dial-up are a bad combo! The pic you posted here is helpful, I am fairly convinced now that my Propinqua is indeed Propinqua. There are new pics posted on this site of Propinqua and Praecox, and now that I have a Praecox cultivar I can see how different the leaves are from other Phyllostachys.

I'm with the folks that think the P. Beijing cultivar is not a Propinqua subspecies. I can't see anything that compares favorably between the 2 except they are both green Phys. The PB shoots fall into that category of Glauca, Flexuosa, Iridescens, in appearance and that appearance is way different than Propinqua. The shoot timing does not match, the hardiness is stronger and the Beijing is producing taller culms much faster. The Propinqua has very short internodes giving it a compact look - it is stockier than Beijing, runs farther as well. Oh well, these are my observations so far, guess we'll wait for the 'pros from Dover' to make an offical statement.