DENDROCALAMUS HAMILTONII

 

Full Sun, 32 degrees F Minimum, Clumper.

        First propagated in the U.S. by Don McKechnie in Fresno.  Don offered the first release at the fall '91 SOCAL sale for $300 with no buyer.  The SOCAL reference collection contains a specimen.  A 15 gallon pot was offered for $100 at the spring '94 SOCAL auction but found no buyer.  Richard Quiroz bought one at the '94 ABS auction in San Francisco for $170.  An 8" pot 4' tall sold for $75 at the '95 SOCAL fall sale.  Two 8" pots sold for $100 at the fall SOCAL auction.

        Native to eastern India, where it is used commercially to produce pulp & paper.  Big plant, 70-80' tall, 8" maximum diameter culms, big leaves, almost as big as Beechyana but upright, like a larger Oldhamii.  The largest bamboo in Thailand, where it is used for house posts, basketry & edible shoots.  Richard Neufeld saw D. hamiltonii plantations 60 miles long in Thailand in 1991.  Jean Harrington in St Pete, Fl had a 8' tall 1 year-old plant that was killed to the ground by one night of 27 degrees in 1995.  It later grew back both leaves & canes from the base.