Here is what he told me:
The old culms were about 2" in diameter. There were some 'hairs' on the nodes, but I think the internodes are much too long for something like Moso....some of the older culms were lying around- some were spotting black, like they were turning- but the culms have practically no grooves like nigra; also, the internodes are not very prominent at all. The new culms are only about 3' tall and .25" diameter, if that. The new culms are green and the old ones, as you can see, have black speckling- a couple of them have sections that were totally black- and that happened on one side, as if it might have been the sunny side. The only thing making me question 'nigra' at all is the unusual 'rounded-ness' of the culms - the nodes aren't prominent, neither are the sulcus grooves. But what else could it be, right? The leaves are emerald green, and the largest 'stump' I could find was about 2". Most of the nodes on the larger culms from last year (4'-6') are sporting three branches. Not only that, but each triplet of branches seems to have a small, medium, and large branch, totally unlike my P. aurea, which has two identical branches at each node. Oh, also, the upper section of the culms DO have a noticeable sulcus and a more prominent node.
In looking at the photos he took, I can't figure out if the coloration on the old, downed culms is simply from decay and mold or if it shows the remnants of nigra coloration. So please check out these photos and give me your speculations.
