BAMBUSA VULGARIS VITTATA

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Probable height in Southern California within 3 years = 30'

Probable ultimate height in Southern California = 40'

Height in habitat = 50'

Loses leaves around 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

Loses canes around 27 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dies around 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

If growing in the ground it prefers to grow in full sun.

A clumping bamboo - rhizomes will not run sideways.

Minimum soil depth required for a healthy plant = 1'

Unrestrained rhizome depth in moist soil = 2'

 

        Very attractively marked canes - 4" diameter yellow canes marked with variable vertical green stripes.

        New canes shoot upward in September-October, a habit which makes the tender new growth especially susceptible to early or severe winter cold. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing these beautiful, dramatic canes pierce dramatically upwards & then suddenly loose their leaves & remain standing like dead sticks when stung by a cold winter.  The new shoots on our plants lost all their leaves during our '87-88 & '88-90 lows of 28-30 degrees F. In 1984 & 1985 the plants survived a 26 degree low at the LA Arboretum. Florida experienced a low of 23 degrees for about 6 hours in 1989 & their Vulgaris vittata lost most of their leaves & perhaps 20% of their culms. However, our small plants start showing cold damage around 45 degrees & lose all their leaves around 38 degrees. Our large plants growing in the ground are much more cold tolerant, show cold damage around 40 degrees, lose their leaves around 35 degrees, & their culms turn light brown & die around 27 degrees.

        First described in Heidelburg, Germany in the early 1800's. This is an ideal plant for a fall Bamboo-watching party - more distinguished, elegant, & profound than TV, but one might have to be a bit of a Zen Buddhist couch potato to see the growth.

        Likes to have its roots kept moist or even wet, does not like to grow in a pot unless the pot is quite large - prefers a humid environment.  In fact it is one of the most drought-sensitive bamboos & will let you know almost immediately by shriveling up its leaves a bit if it is thirsty.  Bold, dramatic, highly ornamental specimen plant - used a lot in Hawaii by landscape architects & contractors because of the very attractive color & striping of its culms, markings are often said to resemble oriental brush painting.

        Until around 1985 was almost never used in the U.S., except as large specimens in several botanic gardens.  At that time a new industry sprang up in Hawaii - cutting 4" diameter vittata culms out of the national forests, potting them up in 10" pots, letting them root for two months, shipping to Florida & California in railroad car-size metal containers for sale as temporary decorations.  The problem is they are only culm cuttings and don't have effective root systems.  The culms turn white & die in about a year & the amputated root systems take years to produce substantial rhizomes & large culms, if at all.   So many of these large cuttings have failed that many people are afraid of growing the plant. Too bad, because the plant, if used properly is one of the great ones.  Unfortunately, if treated like a cut flower, it is only an expensive temporary decoration.

        Survives under low-light conditions.  But the minimum light level required to produce healthy new cane growth seems to be between 1,000 & 2,000 fc.

        40' culms were dug with rhizome in Hawaii in the spring of 1988 & installed in the new Hyatt Hotel's 120' high atrium in Burlingame, California. They were putting out large healthy new culms & looking good in 1990.  The atrium has a translucent teflon cover which produces a daytime light level of just over 2,000 fc.

        Common throughout Central America & Hawaii.

        Used for producing paper pulp in the Philippines.