Flowering frequency of Indocalamus sp?

[marcat]

Mark do you know how frequently Indocalamus sp. flower?
MarCat

[Mark Meckes]

Hi marcat,
You question prompted me to do an extensive internet /book search on flowering of bamboo and what surprised me was how proportionaly little information there is, when considering the importance of this issue and impact flowering can have on so many people directly involved with bamboo.
After I gain a little culmposure, and shut-eye, I'll set up a a new forum - Flowering Bamboo - to address any and all issues related to this subject.

Regarding Indocalamus species, I found little info on their flowering cycle.

One problem also stems from the numerous name changes that have occured with so many bamboo species, including with Indocalamus.

See: Sorting Indocalamus names (http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Indocalamus.html) from the MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE

Is there any particular species that interests you?

Do you have any pics of Indocalamus species flowering?
If so, please do upload them, so we can take a closer look.

About a year ago, someone showed me their potted plant of Indocalamus tessellatus which was showing beginning signs of flowering, though mine in the ground is not flowering.
I have a list of bamboo Plant Introductions through the USDA from years ago and it shows 3 PI#'s of what was then labeled as Sasa tessellata.
No idea if these were 3 distinct clones or the same introduced at different times or different locations ...

Mark

[marcat]

Mark I too can not find much on flowering Bamboo. My interest is because I have a I. tessellatus (might be latifolius) that is flowering. Freind who got his at the same time and source says his is not flowering and I am waiting on word from the source on the mother stock. I have a couple questions I am looking to answer...
1. Do Indocalamus sp. flower frequently or are they like most Bamboo less frequently.
2. Do they survive seed production.
3. How do you tell when the seed is ripe/ready.
Will try to send some pictures. My camera does not do good macro shots (Close ups) but I will try.
Thanks for your interest.
MarCat

[Mark Meckes]

From the book - The Bamboos by F. A. McClure - published 1966
Part III - Basis of Classification
Flowering and Fruiting Behavior in Bamboos of Different Genera and Species
Page 278
Sasa tessellata (Munro) Makino et Shibata
Bean (1907:232) says of Sasa (as Bambusa) tessellata that it had been in cultivation for "probably over sixty years" without flowering.
And to this day, 115 years after it's introduction into cultivation, no published record of the flowering of this species has come to light.
- McClure

Side notes: I am presuming the above species is the species now called Indocalamus tessallatus as there is no other tessellata species called by this name.
Since time of this publication in 1966, 50 years ago, I do not know if there are records of this species flowering.

Regarding Indocalamus latifolius ...

Here is a pic from the Association Européenne du Bambou - France website:
Flowering Indocalamus latiflorius (http://www.aebfrance.com/bambou-anatomie/botanique-03.html)

Info about Indocalamus latifolius (http://www.inbar.int/flowering/view1.asp?id=175) - from INBAR Flowering database
(Notes that flowering commenced 1986 - single plant (China)

[Mark Meckes]

From:
The Journal of the American Bamboo Society
Volume 2 : Number 2 : May 1981
Handbook of Bamboos Cultivated in the United States
Part III: The Sasas - by Richard Haubrich
Page 32
Sasamorpha tessellata (Munro) Nakai
S. tessellata is one of those bamboos that has flowered only rarely.
From the time of it's introduction into England (around 1845) until 1979, a period of over 130 years, there is no record of it ever flowering (McClure 1966, p 278, McClintock, 1979)
In April 1979 a plant in my yard began to flower. By August it had produced about 100 seeds. Of these some 12 seedlings resulted of which 6 survive as healthy, vigorous plants. They all resemble the mother without significant distinctions. The mother plant stopped flowering after about 6 months and regained full vegetative vigor within another 6 months.
- Richard Haubrich, 1981

(Note: Sasamorpha tessellata has been renamed to Indocalamus tessellatus