Phyllostachys aurea: Internodal Distortions

[Mark Meckes]

Spring - August 2001 Central Texas
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-202f.jpg
Compressed nodes of Phyllostachys aurea (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=685) - 4 1/2 months old
At this age we try not to touch the talcum like powdery surface, for aesthic reasons, as hand prints will show for some time to come.
I have considered polishing a young culm with a soft cloth, and throughout it's life-time, to see if it has any affect on the bamboo. A growing P. aurea does polish to a high gloss (different bamboos have varying sheen).
I've noticed polished culms on a hiking trail through a bamboo grove up a steep hill, of which culms near the edge of the path were used to hold on to...

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-203f.jpg
Internodal totem culm - Phyllostachys aurea (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=686) - A little more pronounced then the `normal' P. aurea distortions...

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-204f.jpg
Phyllostachys aurea (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=687) - distorted nodes 10 ft above ground. Environmental conditions(soil/air temps-moisture = emergence period and duration of shooting) certainly affect the height at which these distortions are produced.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-205f1.jpg
`Stairway to Heaven' - Phyllostachys aurea (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=688) - This culm of 1 5/8" (4cm) Diameter distorts abruptly at about 7 feet (2 metres) high.
Not all culms do this or have this much distortion - sometimes only 2 or 3 nodes on a culm are like this.

Worldwide, Phyllostachys aurea may have caught more fish in more diverse places then any other bamboo. It has become adapted to many climates, and is a very useful material.
The base of the culms, especially diameters up to 1 1/2"(4cm), are
often compressed / distorted, and make excellent handles.
Let's go fishing!

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-206f.jpg
`Fishpole handles' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=691) - Compressed Culm base of Phyllostachys aurea.
The powdery blue-ish -white coating on the culm indicates that they are first year culms.
This powder fades during it's developing years, only to return as the culm matures at about 5+ years as a waxy white-ish coating.

Mark

[kevinrl]

Ok Mark, what did you do to this culm to make it do that much distortion?
I know that aurea does some strange things at times, but I have never seen that particular distortion.
Kevin

[bambooda]

Hi Mark,
The common name for P. aurea in Hawaii is "fishing pole bamboo" and actually used for the outrigger poles for trolling rigs. I have heard that they are also used as poles for albacore fishing with no reel and a barbless feathered jig.

The average diameter here is about 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" with the occassional 2-1/4"+. My guess is that the percentage of culms with distorted nodes in an average grove is about 5 % and generally occur in the first three feet of height.
I try to harvest culms at about 5-7 years of age as this is supposed to be when the lignin and cellulose is established in the parenchyma and the fiber strength is at the maximum. As I harvest in the wild I really have no way to knowing with much accuracy what the actual age is. I generally look at the skin color and branching in the canopy ( more divisions of branching - the older it is ) and clunk it with a hardwood dowel and select the ones with a certain high ring.
The feel of the cut ( with a handsaw ) also tells me if I've selected correctly.
This is all pretty subjective so I won't elaborate on my methods ( had to be there.....).

My question to you all that may know better is: "how can you tell when the culm is fully mature?" I feel this is an important question as prime material is the basis on which fine work should be made of for reasons of predictability, strength and durability.
To put in a good amount of skill, time and effort into a piece of work is by far the greater investment than the material itself so the material should be the highest quality that it can be. Anyone out there wanna address this?

Ciao, Cal

[Mark Meckes]

Hi,
The growth of bamboo can be affected by conditions during its' life, and for aurea I think these distortion may initiate during the shoot formation process.
I'm sure one of these days we will be able to understand this mysterious phenomonem of P.aurea, the Golden Queen of Phyllostachys.

Golden Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) does not always bear this characteristic of having shortened internodal spacings at the base of each culm, though it seems to occur more at the base when they are smaller in diameter (less then 1 1/2 "). I will speculate that this will occur more if the bamboo experiences a dry period at during a stage/season of growth.
In a mature grove, where less light is able to filter in, new culms are spaced further apart, giving them sufficent energy to shoot skyward.
Shortened internode spacings may appear higher up on the culm.
In P.aurea groves that I have seen in warm temperate US zones, this compression of nodes seems to be more pronounced, and with greater regularity where the soil and growing conditions are less then ideal.
Someone had mentioned to me that he liked to get the P. aurea poles for his distorted walking sticks from around the building ruins of a deserted farm homesteads, (where this bamboo had been planted many years before).
The bamboo shown in the following picture was harvested (as part of a grove maintenance job) from a narrow screen of bamboo growing between two properties, (in Central Texas) There was a VERY high percentage of poles like this.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1Mvc-218f.jpg
Phyllostachys aurea - Compressed basal nodes (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=695)
Culms up to 1 1/2" (3cm)diameter at the base - Very tapered

Mark