Bamboo Identification

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.

Differences between running and clumping bamboo

If running bamboo were going to take over the world, it would have done so thousands of years ago. There are running species (temperate cold hardy, Leptomorph) of bamboo which we love and there are clumping (Pachymorph) species. We dislike the clumping species and specialize in cold hardy runners. I grow around twenty species of clumping bamboo and have never been impressed with their looks or growth rate.

Running bamboo can provide a serene privacy screen or a beautiful bamboo grove to walk through. Runners with easy maintenance can make a dense natural screen.
Clumpers for screening purposes leave a lot to be desired as they are narrow at the base and weep over at the tops leaving huge gaps between each bamboo plantings.

There is a running species for most all climate zones. From the cold of climate Zone 5 to the warmth of the tropics, there is a running species suited for all applications.

Clumpers are very limited to the areas they can grow.

The cold hardy clumping species ( mostly mountain bamboo) are very limited in the climate zones they can live in. They take years to reach 8 to 12 feet in mature heights. In climate zones 6 and warmer, clumping species struggle to survive and usually die due to the summer heat and humidity. You can waste money just as Roger Sr. did years ago when he tried to grow many different clumping species. In cold climate zone 5, they will do fine if you desire a slow growing bamboo that matures at 8 to 12 feet in height. For screening purposes they leave a lot to desire as they are narrow at the base and weep over at the tops leaving huge gaps between each bamboo plantings. We sold hardy clumpers for a while and our customers were not happy, so we stopped dealing with clumpers because of their poor growth performance.

Tropical clumpers can only be grown in very warm climate zones such as zone 8 and 9. The tropical clumpers are giants and can grow very fast like running bamboo. The problem is the limited climate zones and the spacing of the canes within the clumper. The spaces between the culms (canes) are so close most specimens are very unsightly due to the large amount of dead canes and limbs in the interior of the clump. These dense dead canes and limbs cannot be reached unless some of the outside canes are cut away first. The tropical clumpers I have seen in my travels have been poorly maintained and are unsightly giving bamboo a bad image. Even a well kept botanical garden such as Fairchild Botanical Gardens in Miami, FL which we visited in 2003 for a bamboo meeting, had thousands of unsightly dead canes in their clumping bamboo. A grove of running bamboo is unparalleled in my book and we have seen thousands of groves over the past 50 plus years.

This is an example of Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' in climate zone 7. It generally comes back in the Spring if the winter is not too severe. Most of the U.S. is in a climate zone 7 or colder, so you can expect similar to worse results. The green bamboo in the background is temperate running bamboo. If you desire an evergreen privacy screen, running bamboo is the best option.

Control of running bamboo is simple and there are numerous methods which we have listed on our web site. Click here to read about growing habits and control methods: Growing Habits
Control of clumping bamboo is almost impossible. It is not as aggressive, but is forceful about where it wants to grow. Running bamboo follow the path of least resistance and change directions when they become impeded. Clumpers are persistent and will force their way through obstacles in their outwardly spiraling root path.

We hope to help you find the right bamboo species for your needs and location. Bamboo truly has something to offer all gardeners and plant collectors.

Bamboo can only be properly identified when it shoots, which is a yearly occurrence. 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.


Moso shoot	Nigra Henon shoot
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 oral setae. Blades are long and straight. Sheaths are pubescent on the back.	The sheath blade stands tall at the top of the culms of a henon shoot. It is flanked at its base with a pair of dusky auricles fringed with lavender bristles. The blades are wavy on all members of the nigra family such as the Giant Gray, Black, Hale, Bory, etc.