Semiarundinaria fastuosa

Common name is Temple or Bottlebrush bamboo.  I can just picture stately groves of this growing in front of a Japanese Temple.  With it’s semi permanently attached sheaths it looks like no other bamboo.  The culms are very vertical with no bend to them and very short limbs.  Canes are very thin walled and have very little strength but a nice look, somewhat sinuous.             Buy this bamboo.

Temple Bamboo

This grove of Semiarundinaria fastuosa was located in Birmingham, Al at an old firestation.  It has been cut down even though it was in control.  The growth you see here is only about 4 to 5 feet thick, growing along the wall and behind is a paved parking lot.  It is confined between the two and has been for years.  I suspect it could have been planted by Steve Ray as he was a fireman for the city of Birmingham.
UPDATE   –   This image is a few years old.  I visited this site again in 2011 and found all the bamboo had been cut down.  There were a few canes (small) still around the edges but most is now gone.  The fire station is no longer in use.  Such a shame that a pretty grove of bamboo has been eliminated.  I’m hoping they will leave the site alone this summer and the bamboo will have a chance to re-establish itself.

Semiarundinaria fastuosa new shoot.

New Temple bamboo shoot

Purple colored sheaths

New sheaths have a shiny, purple look on the inside which will be on display when the sheaths fold downward along the cane.