Bamboo Identification

Spring time, when the new shoots emerge from the ground, is an excellent time to identify bamboo, but this is no walk in the park. We have a page with photos of new Spring shoots that you can use as a reference. Click here to go to Bamboo Beauty to see these.

There are over 1200 documented species or varieties of bamboo worldwide. The 'experts' agree on the following taxonomy of how bamboo is classified. These facts are from the American Bamboo Society's 2005 findings.

KINGDOM : Plantae
PHYLUM ( DIVISION) : Magnoliophyta
CLASS: Liliopsida
SUBCLASS: Commelinidae
ORDER: Cyperales
FAMILY: Gramineae (Poaceae)
SUBFAMILY: Bambusoideae
TRIBE: Bambuseae
SUBTRIBE: bambusinae

More simply put bamboo is a giant grass and is a member of the Gramineae. The subfamily of this class is Bambusoideae. All the types of bamboo such as the cold hardy temperate species fall into a Genus next. An example of this would be the Phyllostachys that we grow many of here in Alabama and through out the U.S. Next comes the Species such as P. nigra. Then the Cultivar of this species such as the Henon. When a cultivar flowers it may or may not create a stable new variety. This happened fairly recently when ( what I consider a unstable cultivar) the cultivar Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis' started to produce the variety P. vivax 'Huangwenzhu' within the groves of 'Aureocaulis'.

Bamboo differs from many plants in the manner that it has to be identified. The problem lies in the fact that it rarely flowers and this is the easiest way to identify plants. Flowering can vary from a few years up to one hundred and twenty years. Fortunately, the Chinese and Japanese have maintained good records on many species. The rest have been grouped and identified based wholly on vegetative structures.

The culm sheaths that cover the young shoots have many distinctive characteristics and this is the means by which many bamboo have been identified. The sheath color, size, shape and some of the delicate parts such as the auricles and ligule are used to distinguish different bamboo. We have been studying, growing bamboo for over twenty years and have not even scratched the surface. If you are going to collect or try to ID bamboo, I suggest you gather as much information you can.

Bamboo is an amazing plant that has adapted it's self to hundreds of different locations and climates. We hope to help you find the right bamboo species for your needs and location.

The best way to learn is through books and the internet. Below are just a few of the great books available that we have read and suggest. We have partnered with Amazon.com to give you the best prices and great service for books on bamboo which are coming out new all the time. Click here to see other books Bamboo Books.

This is one of the most useful books on bamboo that is in print today. It contains a lot of information making it fairly technical without a lot of photos. It introduces us to the oldest, most remarkable resource on the planet. Farrelly tells us about the plant's biology, life cycle and gives tips on harvesting and planting. He also conveys the rich timeless message that bamboo is an abundant resource that could beneficially replace many of the less sustainable materials used in many aspects of our daily lives.

This book has very beautiful photos that aid in identification and offers an A-Z listing with details about each species characteristics. We highly recommend this for lovers of bamboo as well as first time growers.

Below are example of how different two new culms ( new Spring shoots) can look. On our price list click on the photo of the species, many species have a photo page which show canes, leaves, groves and some shoot photos.

New moso shoots can be identified by the dots or round spots of sooty coloration on the culm sheath. Auricles are dark purplish to brown, fringed with coarse, long, wavy oral setae. Blades are long and straight. Sheaths are pubescent on the back.