HELP ID BLACK BAMBOO !?

[RRONNIE]

Hi all, new to this forum, novice with Bamboo - your help in ID please:
I am growing this black bamboo for 5 - 6 years.
I was told (when i bought it) that it is Bambusa lako (Timor Black) which was suppose to develope (the Canes) to 4" in diameter, hight 40 - 50.
But, in the last 5 years, the thickest new ones get to 1/2" max. in diameter and 9' - 10' high!
So i checked and it also looks like Phyllostachys Nigra “Black Bamboo. The "literature" says: 2 inches in diameter and up to 40 feet in height - naaaaaaa, does'nt look like mine...
So, what is it ??? - maybe still, Bambusa lako, and i'm too impatient, and "it will be like it is said in the literature ??? when ???
Thanks for help,
Ronnie

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/527/medium/IMG_1978_Small_.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3991&cat=500&ppuser=2326) View large (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3991&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=2326)

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/527/thumbs/IMG_1969_Small_.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3990&cat=500&ppuser=2326) http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/527/thumbs/IMG_1971_Small_.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3989&cat=500&ppuser=2326) http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/527/thumbs/IMG_1975_Small_.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3988&cat=500&ppuser=2326)

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Ronnie,
Nice pics! They have been cross-linked/uploaded to your gallery at Bamboo Flora.

Yep, what you have is Phyllostachys nigra (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=527) (See category at Bamboo Flora)
Phyllostachys species generally have 2 branches growing from each node.
They will not reach their ultimate size due to their growing culmfinement, unless their rhizomes discover a hidden underground resource, or if they are fed with fertilizer.

Here's another example of Phyllostachys nigra growing between a rock and a hard place:

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/527/medium/PnigAuTX070416-6987.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3987) View large (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3987&size=big&cat=527)
This bamboo is aided by rainfall which flows down and percolates through the adjacent pathway to the roots of the rhizomes below ground.

Mark

[RRONNIE]

Thanks Mark,

But, which one ???

It looks like:'Daikokuchiku' , as well as 'Hale', as well as 'Muchisasa', as well as 'Othello':confused: :confused:

Helppppp,

Ronnie

[Mark Meckes]

Alas, all we can be certain of is that it is P. nigra of some form or another.
It is definitely not Bambusa lako (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=634) ...
Maybe your supplier can shed some light on it's origination and definition.

The problem associated with cultivars of P. nigra, is that the species form has a tendency to be quite variable depending on environmental conditions.
I sometimes wonder if these cultivars are a ploy by growers to capitalize on the 'must have' weaknesses of unsuspecting bamboo aficionados. ;) ... but I don't have the space to trial the plants under similar growing conditions and determine whether they are stable/unstable cultivars and how they perform under the same and differing environments and treatments.

... Maybe the bamboo (I'm currently growing) available locally as P. nigra is actually a cultivar and not the "original" P. nigra form. :confused:

For example ... (Descriptions from the American Bamboo Society 2006 Source List)

Phyllostachys nigra 'Daikokuchiku' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=651): Claimed to be larger than the type with culms turning black more rapidly than other cultivars.
... still awaiting a report of P. nigra growing in gigantic proportions in our area.

Phyllostachys nigra 'Hale (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=614): Supposedly smaller, cold hardier, culms turning black immediatley.
- I grew this species in a cold climate (NE Pennsylvania) and didn't notice it as being any hardier - All my P. nigra species got killed to (near) ground level from winter cold, though would send up new, albiet smaller shoots.

Why do P. nigra culms to turn from green to shades of black?
See this thread: Phyllostachys nigra - Effects of sunlight on color change (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=336)

Phyllostachys nigra 'Muchisasa' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=649): The culms turn brownish-black, not dense black
- This can happen to culms that don't receive adequate nutrients/growing conditions etc and eclipse - terminate their existence at an earlier age.

Phyllostachys nigra 'Othello' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=660): Culms very black, tightly packed tightly together in clumps, turn from green to black early.
- Closely spaced culms happen for me from divisions of densely growing rhizomes. As the planting encounters more shade from other overhanging growth etc, their new culms begin to emerge at a wider spacing if their rhizomes aren't culmfined.

Phyllostachys nigra 'Punctata' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=647): A large form with culms spotted in their first year, purplish in their second, and black in their third.

Hmmm, I will punctuate my thoughts and opinions with a moment for pause and culmciliation with the grove.

Mark ;)

[RRONNIE]

Thanks Mark,
And if "someone" will twist your arm (medium pressure)... :mad: what would be your guess :eek:

[Mark Meckes]

Well if you'd like an exotic name for your P. nigra you could call it ...

Phyllostachys nigra 'Inculmclusiva' ;)

I have not seen enough mature groves of these 'shades of black' nigra cultivars to be an expert on the subject, though from the ones I've seen, and from my own personal experience growing P. nigra in 4 different locations on my property ... leads me to believe that various environmental conditions affects their ultimate size, the time it takes for the culms to change color and the shades of color they change to.

In your situation the planting is growing in a very restricted environment.

Have you seen this same plant growing elsewhere in your locality under different growing conditions?

How much direct sunlight does your planting receive?

My one planting growing in full sunlight with strong afternoon sun exposure is slowest to change color, with culms of many shades, blotches and specklings. Lower culm portions, are shaded and turn black first.

How are you watering, and how much water is the planting receiving?

At another location I have observed a P. nigra that is growing in a raised but contained bed that is getting constantly irrigated by a leaking (man-made) pond stream. Though the bamboo is flourishing, many of the culms age prematurely and when they do so, their culm color is often more of a chocolate brown, not black, as if the heavy irrigation washed the intense color out of them.

Mark

[RRONNIE]

I like the exotic name Phyllostachys nigra 'Inculmclusiva'
Maybe i'll nikename it Phyllostachys nigra 'Whatchamacallit':rolleyes:
Be Good
Ronnie