Bambusa textilis

Bambusa textilis, also known as slender bamboo, clumping bamboo and weaver's bamboo, is a species of bamboo in the Poaceae (grasses) family that is native to China. The subspecies var. gracilis is heavily cultivated in Australia.[1]

Bambusa textilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Bambusa
Species:
B. textilis
Binomial name
Bambusa textilis
Synonyms

Bambusa varioaurita W.T.Lin & Z.J.Feng
Bambusa textilis var. purpurascens
Bambusa textilis f. purpurascens
Bambusa textilis var. pubescens
Bambusa textilis var. maculata
Bambusa textilis var. gracilis
Bambusa textilis var. glabra
Bambusa minutiligulata W.T.Lin & Z.M.Wu
Bambusa glaucescens var. annulata
Bambusa annulata W.T.Lin & Z.J.Feng

Description
Canopy of slender bamboo in Maui, Hawaii.

Slender bamboo is a giant, densely leaved, upright bamboo, that grows in a tight clump up to 6 to 10 meters high and 2 meters in width at a fast rate and has a stem size of 3cm.[2]

Having elegant leaves that are lanceolate shaped, 9-25 x 1-2.5 cm long, and greenish blue-hued culm that is glossy and leathery, its long green internodes, 35-60 cm, change to yellow during prolonged sunlight exposure. Despite being an evergreen, some leaf loss can be expected in winter, but this depends on the location and microclimate.[3]

The stalk and the rhizome are one, making it a non-invasive plant. The top part of the short rhizome has buds, one of which grows into another very truncated rhizome that then turns upward to surface from the ground as a subsidiary culm close to the parent.[4]

Distribution

In its native southern China, it usually found near rivers, on hills and villages at low altitudes in the Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces.[5] It has been naturalized in Hawaii, Florida, Colombia and Puerto Rico.[6]

Cultivation

It is cultivated in particular to constitute hedges or privacy screens in suburban yards and can be planted in subtropical/tropical gardens where it can complement the native rainforest flora, and as well as in garden beds near a fence. It can also provide both noise and wind break, in addition to tolerating winds and temperatures as low as -10°C. Growing best in full sun to part shade, it may benefit from some mulch and nitrogen fertiliser.[7]

The variety var. gracilis is one of the most popular bamboos, especially in Australia, which is known as Gracilis bamboo, that forms a sightly slender clump and grows no more than 8 metres high. It reaches maturity within 3-5 years, depending on the weather and soil.[8] A gracilis in a 200mm container would usually grow to around 3 to 4 meters in 12 months. The glabra variety features more white on the lower areas of the internodes, giving the plant a striped appearance, and the fusca variety is larger, growing up to 12 meters and would top a 3 storey building.[9]

Varieties
  • B. textilis var. fusca
  • B. textilis var. glabra
  • B. textilis var. gracilis
  • B. textilis var. maculata
  • B. textilis var. textilis

References
  1. Bambusa textilis var. gracilis Common Names: Gracilis, Slender Weavers Living Bamboo Production Nursery
  2. Rao, A.N., G. Dhanarajan, C.B. Sastry. 1985. Recent Research on Bamboos. Proceedings of the International Bamboo Workshop. October 6-14, 1985 1985, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China. The Chinese Academy of Forestry, People’s Republic of China. International Development Research Centre, Canada
  3. Rao, A.N. and V. Ramanatha Rao, editors. 1998. Priority Species of Bamboo and Rattan. IPGRI-APO, Serdang, Malaysia.
  4. Bambusa textilis - McClure Plants for a Future
  5. Bambusa textilis McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. 9: 14. 1940. Flora of China
  6. Bambusa textilis Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
  7. Bambusa textilis Gracilis Slender Weavers Bamboo Alpine Nurseries
  8. The best of clumping bamboo Better Homes and Gardens
  9. FUSCA THREE STOREY SCREENING BAMBOO Bamboo Down Under

Sources
  • "Bambusa textilis McClure". Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.
  • "Bambusa textilis". Flora of China – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  • "Bambusa textilis McClure (1940)". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • "Bambusa textilis McClure". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List.
  • "Bambusa textilis McClure". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • "Bambusa textilis McClure, 1940". Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer (UBIO).
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