What is it......

[Van-isle-bamboo]

I bought this boo labeled "bambusa multiplex Alphonse Karr ". The person said it would work great as a indoor bamboo to have. I gave up on that shortly because my cat started eating it I then decided to just throw it out in the most protected spot in my yard with a heavy mulch every winter. So far so good and it had even seen -12C!!!! It did have a bit of die back tho. Last year at -6.7C wasn't nearly as bad and it retained all of its foliage.

So here's the question. What is it ? It doesn't have the yellow culms or stripes that "
Alphonse Karr has. The culms are green but faded a bit at the nodes. No long branches like say a chusquea would have( because it did cross my mind it was of that genus). It's an open clumper with really nice shoots. It also shoots now when the soil temps aren't even hit enough for my Vivax right next to it.

Does anyone have any ideas? Please help ID this mystery boo.

Thanks in advance

[Tarzanus]

leaves and overall appearance does look like bambusa multiplex, but it should be highly damaged with anything below 15F. Bamboo is still in juvenile phase, so you can't really tell, it could be one of Fargesia bamboos and would look almost identical to other clumpers.

How did you protect it, beside mulching the soil around it? Was it tarped, covered, buried in snow,...?

[Van-isle-bamboo]

Tarzanus, for protection all I have given this was leaf litter mulch in the fall, and I mean thick at probably 12". We didn't get snow this year and I don't tarp bamboos here. Last years cold didn't affect it as much as the year before but it was a normal mild winter for me here in Z7b-8a.

Does Bambusa multiplex " Alphonse Karr" look like this in its juvenile stage? I grow many other bamboos and my fargasia's started shooting in The beginning of March so I'm gonna have to rule that out. Shooting would be more prolific if so as well. 15f and it did suffer a fair bit of damage but there was still some green leaves and a couple culms alive after that.

I guess we are still undecided........

[Cooper12]

heres mine. in the snow I know. Besides the color it looks too open to be a Multiplex to me and the culm shoots look different than my Alphonse Karr at least

[foxd]

Once you get it above a certain size it will grow faster than the cat can eat it. Ours has become something of a connoisseur of bamboo.

[Van-isle-bamboo]

If this isn't multiplex then what couldn't be......?!?! This might take some time I can see

[Chris S]

Rule 1 - never trust the label

To me that Bambusa multiplex looks suspiciously like Chusquea culeou from the new shoots, the multiple subequal branches, the spacing of the leaf blades, the nodal swelling, and the persistence of the culm sheaths.

OK so that may be the bamboo sorted. Now to ID the cat. Does it look like this:

If it does it is Ailurus fulgens, the Shining Cat

[johnw]

For what it's worth here are shoots on my Chusquea culeou 'Caña Prieta'. I don't know how typical they are of culeou in general and it's juvenile too, not helping matters but might be helpful for comparison.

[Van-isle-bamboo]

Chris, it's funny you mention that it might be a C. Culeou because it has also crossed my mind. It should have been hardier for me tho if it is. Maybe as it mature it will gain some hardiness I'm guessing then. "Alphose Karr" should have yellow culms even when immature right?

I have emailed Booshoots in regards to this mix up. Funny thing is tho is that the bamboo Nursary I about it from had 4 at the time with the same labels. Maybe some employee mixed it up. This does happen ALL the time with palms.

John, thanks for the imput. I can see some pinkinsh tones to your Cana prieta. My gigantea also has the same pinkish 'type' tones. Also on my above boo in this post I see some color too. Maybe the chusquea has these traits. I have a Cana prieta reserved at Victoria Bamboo. As soon as I can get down there to pick it up it's going in the ground. Culms are almost black for him and it's fairly rare to up here.

Thanks for all the imput guys. Keep it coming too.

[Chris S]

Chusquea culeou is going to lose some leaves at -12c, and 'Alphonse Karr' is always going to be much yellower than your plant.

Here is a picture to help you, from http://www.casimages.com/i/130521011835 ... 2.jpg.html

Note the yellowish colour of some of your culm internodes turning to green right under the node.

No matter how they change the labels to Bambusa multiplex AK, it is still Chusquea culeou - plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose!

[Van-isle-bamboo]

Chris yours seems to be an open clumper too like mine is. I think we are in to something

[Van-isle-bamboo]

Well I emailed the distributor in Washington. She's saying that it's plain muliplex. She said it looks more like muliplex then chusquea culeou. I'm still kind of on the edge tho

[marcat]

All bambusa have three main branches with smaller ones added on. Can't see that in your pictures. does chusquea do that?
MarCat

[Tarzanus]

Bambusa shoots often appear red coloured like those on the photo, number of branches also looks like most of Bambusa bamboos I've had an opportunity to see. The only non Bambusa feature I can think of is it's cold-hardiness.

[Van-isle-bamboo]

Hi guys thanks for all the responses.

I'll have to take some more photos when I'm back home again from work in June ( I only confuse my wife when I try to explain plant anatomy and what to photograph )

Cold hardiness has been a problem with this boo but only in years of -10c /15 f or lower. It does get culm die back and lots of lead burn at those temps. To be honest that kind of cold is rare here and mostly short lived. This boo is also in a very protected spot in my yard. The lady at boo-shoots said that multiplex can take my kind of climate. It's just gonna be slower and have die back issues some years.

Marcat, I have a C. gigantea which does have some really large branches. If I recall its one giant one per node....? I think anyways. Leaves are smaller on the Chusqueas I have seen tho.

Maybe this is a super hardy strain of multiplex?!?! Wouldn't that be cool!