identify this bamboo please

[sunnyra]

Hi All,
I recently bought a house and inherited a small bamboo grove, pictures here.
http://www.youryoga.com/bamboo/index.htm
I want to know what it is, I know it's a Phyllostachys, but which one? I think it is aurea, except there is no swelling of nodes or not closely packed at bottoms, also I don't see any of it it turning yellow, except after it has died. Also it grows to about 2 1/8 inches wide, all the descriptions I see for golden bamboo are more like, 1.5" max. It's not like this is a real healthy vibrant grove either. It has been suggested to me maybe it's p. meyeri, but there is no fuzz below the sheath at the scar to be found, and max size is listede as 1.5" as well, are there any other indicators any one can pass on?
Thanks Sunny

[Mark Meckes]

Mark Meckes wrote:
Hi!
Looks like P. meyeri
Sheaths look similar to Phyllostachys aurea, except...

Check at the bottom of a sheath, outer side, at the sheath scar, and see if
there's a tiny line of fuzz. It rubs off, so check a few.
regards, Mark
-----------------------------------
Sunny wrote
Hi Mark, I checked for the fuzz at bottom of sheaths and found none, is it common that aurea and meyeri can grow over 2" diameter? and that aurea can be devoid of the node swelling and compaction?
Thanks Sunny

------------------------------------
Do the sheaths have wiskery (auricles)?
If so then it won't be either aurea or meyeri.
In our mature grove of Phyllostachys aurea in Austin, Texas, we have both contorted and non-contorted, which appears greatly affected by environmental factors, and depth below the surface of the connecting rhizomes.
The average largest diameter in Central Texas is 2 1/4", rarely more.
In ideal conditions and certain regions in the US, many species of bamboo will get bigger in diameter...
and so do imaginations..
I've noticed that there is a very high percentage of error in the measurement taking ... If it looks like 3 " , measured with a caliper it is actually 2 1/2".
Bamboo does this to the eyes.

--------------------------------------
There was a non-contorting P aurea variant for sale at last years ABS Annual Conference/auction... I didn't see it.

---I saw a grove of non-contorting P. aurea at Upper Bank Nurseries in Media, Pennsylvania, in the 80's.(...now a suburb of Philiadelphia)
The owner, Wirt Thompson, who was one of the first to sell bamboo in the US in the early 20th century, told me it was P.aurea and I took it for granted).
If that's the case then non-contorting P. aurea is probably locally scattered or widespread as a result of his business.
Wirts' P.aurea only grew to about 20 feet tall/1" in dia, and I always thought it was the environmental conditions and small stature that prevented contorting and compression of internodes.

regards,
Mark Meckes

[sunnyra]

The only place I see auricles anywhere are on new leaf sheaths, maybe a 1/4" long and barely visable, but they are not present on the mature leaves.
Thanks a bunch, Sunny

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Sunny,
I was referring to the auricles on the culm sheaths.
When did the shoots begin to emerge?

BTW
We've got a new feature as a result of a recent upgrade of our Gallery, which enables us to create and arrange albums.

Here's 1 pic of our P.aurea shoots- march
http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=3009&ppuser=1

many more pics to come...soon

Sunny...if you are interested in uploading some pics you are welcome to try out this feature.

...Click on Album Admin in the Gallery to create an album

We currently have our permission settings requiring approval
of uploads.
..I'll be writing a new thread about all this.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Sunny,
Another way of showing your pics using our gallery is to upload one pic and provide a link in the comments to your site.
Of course, you can completely disregard all I've said, and just send us a link to your site as you've done in this post.

Of the little work I have done with P. meyeri, it's properties seemed similar (surface texture, wall thickness, strength/durability etc), though meyeri had a longer internode spacing.

Mark

[tbackus98]

Hi All,

OK, Now I'm confused. The picture shown here look like my bamboo - the bamboo that I was told by the nursery that sold it as being P. Vivax. So is what I have really P. aurea or meyeri?

Largest diameter is approx. 2 3/4". White powder band under each culm (node?). Whiskery at the base of new branches. Leaves are dark green, 3 - 4 inches long.

I'll post some pics soon.