Slender Weaver’s Bamboo

Bambusa textilis McClure var. gracilis McClure

bam-BOO-sah  TEX-til-is variety GRASS-ill-us  (not gra-SILL-us)

Poaceae

Explanation of name: Bambu is an ancient name for bamboos. Textilis refers to the use of the species in weaving. Gracilis is Latin for slender.

Natural range: Guangdong, China (OHR)

Recognition and landscape uses (contributed by Marx Broszio): This is rapidly becoming a favorite to create a fast hedge or privacy screen. This bamboo is a tight clumper and fast grower with a very vertical Growth form. It can grow up to 30’ in height, but the canes remain about an inch in diameter and nod slightly at the apex. It is one of the few bamboos to remain attractive topped and trimmed into a hedge. This species is excellent for a small space, since it is a tight clumper with small diameter canes and a neat, tight, vertical growth pattern.

Notes: There exist multiple varieties and cultivars of Bambusa textilis. ‘Glabra’ has blue-white waxy bloom on the culms. ‘Albostriata’ has white stripes on the culms. ‘Kanapaha’ comes from the University of Florida Kanapaha Gardens in Gainesville. It is large with white coloration on the culms. ‘Scranton’ is strongly vertical with very short lateral branches, giving the plants a narrow columnar shape. Bambusa mutabilis McClure, Emerald Bamboo, may turn out to be a synonym of B. textilis. The distinction between the two is unclear.

Internet source: http://www.tropicalbamboo.com/Featured_Bamboos.asp