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With
most plants the best way to positively ID them is by their flowers.
This is also a great way to ID bamboo but there is a problem - some
bamboos only flower every 80 years or so! Given this problem other ways
have been developed to positively identify different bamboo species..
Of course some things are obvious such as culm size and color, leaf
size, and growth characteristics. This works with many of the Phyllostachys
but some of them look very similar and that's when we take a look at
the shoots. Since these species only send up shoots (generally) in the
spring, this is an exciting time of the year. We found or first new
shoots of the spring on March 9. The earliest was P.violescens followed
closely by P.h.pubescens (Moso bamboo). I have posted pictures of the
P.violescens here. It helps that different
species shoot at different times. The two mentioned above are always
my earliest and are usually followed by P.aureosulcata (and various
forms of this species). |
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| This is a shoot of P.aureosulcata. This species began shooting here on about March 23. There are several nice size shoots on the south side of the grove. The shoots sheaths have white stripes on a green and wine background. The oral setae are long and crinkled and the sheath blades at top are lance shaped, green and white striped. |
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March 22, 2004. The Moso (P.h.pubescens) has been shooting for about 10 days. This shoot is from a small (10 culms) grove that seems to really like where it's at as the new shoots are very numerous and some appear to be nearly 3 inches in diameter. Notice how this shoots splits the ground as it emerges. Nothing else looks quite like Moso. Notice how the entire shoot is covered with hair. The sheaths are dark brown with darker splotches. The many oral setae are wiry and wavy. After Moso culms are fully developed the surface has a soft down that covers it, feeling much like velvet. |
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Phyllostachys
aureosulcata 'Spectabilis'. First sighted on March 18. The shoot was 6 inches tall with other shoots nearby that were 2 inches tall. Probably shooting as of March 16. Some of the characteristics of P.aureosulcata include the white striped sheath with green or wine background. The fine hairs in the close-up image are the oral setae. These are long and crinkled. The pointed sheath blades at the very top of the shoot are broad and triangular as can be seen in the middle image.The oral setae are attached to an oval shaped auricle as you can see on the image on the right. |
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P.a.Spectabilis
shoot. The sheath is vertically white striped on a green or wine back
ground. |
Same
shoot under different lighting. The sheathblade at top is broad and
triangular. |
Close-up of the P.a.Spectabilis shoot shows the protruding auricle with the long, crinkled oral setae attached. (the oral setae are the little hairs in the picture) |
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P.violescens This is always the earliest Phyllostachys species to shoot at our bamboo nursery. The shoots are often killed by a late frost and because of this the grove has been very slow to mature. There is a good crop of shoots this year, about 20 in all. On the left are 4 that are close together, the largest about 1.25 inches in diameter. On the right is a closeup of one of the shoots. Notice the small hairs at the base of the leaf-like blades. These are called oral satae. They are present on some species but not others. |
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P.angusta |
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