Chimonobambusa quadrangularis 'Square Bamboo'

[Dean W.]

Hi there, I’m wondering if any body has this planted in Central Texas or anywhere else for that matter? I hear it likes a moist, cool, acid environment.

I think I’ve may have ordered the wrong bamboo for my environment.

O well I’ll give it ago and find out later.

Dean

[ShmuBamboo]

I do not know about growing this stuff in a moist cool environment... it seems to grow really well in dry warm environment where I saw it really doing well in Santa Cruz, CA. Tall square 20 ft. culms there. I have some here that I am growing in a pot. I traded some other bamboo for it. It prefers part shade, and has a higher low temp than we get here in winter, so I do not know about cold hearty here. But like you, I figure what the heck? May as well try it. It is actually a nice type of boo when it reaches full size.

[Dean W.]

ShmuBamboo,

Great to here its able to grow in Santa Cruz, CA. It gives me some hope at being able to grow it here. As for the minimum temperature it rarely gets that cold here.

Dean

[voodoolord]

Hi, Im the one who traded with Shmu, you wont have any problem growing it there, the only problem you might have is containing it. Make sure you have enough space away from anywhere you dont want it to go.
voodoo

[Dean W.]

Hi voodoolord,

Good to hear I'll have to give this one room to romp and play. :)

Dean

[Mark Meckes]

Chimonobambusa quadrangularis grows well in SE Texas near the border with Louisiana:
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/728/thumbs/CquadJBNTX070604-8618.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=4551)
Growing at the edge of a mixed forest, then Hurricane Rita came along and toppled many of the trees.
You can see in this picture how a large tree towering over the bamboo got snapped off at the trunk 10ft/3M high and remains suspended over the planting.
It is exposed to lots more sunlight now.
I've been offered to dig up a plant when I visit in late October so I'll let you know how it takes to growing in Austin.
I may plant it down in our gully midst a mixture of deciduous trees near a storm water stream that is normally a mere trickle or dry creek bed during summer, till a good rain turns it into a raging torrent for a day or so from neighborhood street runnoff.
I expect in late Oct new shoots might be in full swing ... may not be the best time to dig (?) but at least the weather should be cooler and less stressful for transplanting.

Chimonobambusa quadrangularis 'Suow' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=786), with yellow culms and the ocassional green stripe on the internodes is a very attractive plant.

There is also the variety Chimonobambusa quadrangularis 'Yellow Groove' - Green culms with a yellow sulcus
I haven't seen this one but would imagine that it must have an alternating yellow stripe on internodes below the first branches where there is no groove.


Mark

[Dean W.]

Mark,

I've seen pictures of the Chimonobambusa quadrangularis 'Yellow Groove' and it looks beautiful. I wanted to order that one too but, I'll have to save it for another time.

I was wondering what time of the year it shoots.

Dean

[voodoolord]

Some of my quadrangularis plants shot this summer but this one also will also shoot in the winter. Its one of the odd things about the Chimonobambusa species.

[Mark Meckes]

From the book - The Bamboos by F. A. McClure 1966, Smithsonian Institution Press
Page 272 ... the following is written about Chimonobambusa quadrangularis ...

<quote>

Since early time the curious squarish stem and spinous culm nodes of Chimonobambusa quandrangularis have attracted the attention and interest of botanists and plant fanciers in China and Japan.
Native of China, it was carried to Japan long ago, probably during the period when Buddhist missionaries from China were excercising their first great influence in Japan.
It was introduced into Europe early in the 19th century; thus it has been known to modern botanists of both hemispheres for well over 100 years.
There is no record of it's having flowered during this time.
Although the flowers of the square bamboo were unknown to him, Makino placed this species in the genus Chimonobambusa on the strength of certain vegetative morphological characters and habit, rare in hardy bamboos, of sending up new culm shoots in winter or late autumn.
This physiological pecularity is the basis of the name Chimonobambusa (Gr. cheimõn, winter)

<end quote>

60 years have passed since time of this publication, and I do not know if it has flowered during this time.

Our Chimonobambusa marmorea shoots in autumn (hasn't started yet) and right up into December.
Often some of the top culm portions get zapped by cold but they do grow branches at some lower nodes.
In the spring a much smaller number of shoots emerge.
Will be interesting to see how C. quadrangularis performs in central Texas.

Mark

[Dean W.]

Mine got a little frost bite during the winter. But, it has a few small shoots that survived.

[ShmuBamboo]

My squarestem boo took the cold right down to 15 degrees F. this winter and are doing just fine. No leaf damage. Bam. multiplex Alphonse Karr froze at the same temps next to it and is completely leafless now.

[CaroleMeckes]

Dean,
Did your Chimonobambusa quadrangularis survive the Texas heat?

I've tried twice to dig up a start and transplant it and both died.

My 3rd attempt is with a potted plant that I will keep in the pot for now.
I had it outside in a shaded spot on my front entry way - but the 66 days of over 100 degrees have made the leaves start to dry up - so I moved the plant inside my house last week and it seems to be doing better.

Once the weather cools down - I'll move it back outside.

Carole

[Dean W.]

Hey Carole,

I planted it in the ground, but later decided it was a bad ideal. To close to the neighbors even though a moderate runner. I didn't want to make them mad since there not very friendly.;)

So I pulled it out put it back in a container. Unfortunately it didn't get much water for awhile and died. To bad because it was really starting to look nice. I just wished I had more property.:)

Chat Later,
Dean