"K" wrote in message
...
"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" writes

"K" wrote in message
...

Someone in urg mentioned their bamboo was flowering, and today my
neighbour pointed out that both his and mine was in flower.

So - what triggers bamboo to flower? Age? A hot summer? Being potbound?

Which particular bamboo?

Dunno! It's got canes with grass like leaves on ;-)
Seriously - it's not black stemmed, yellow stemmed or stripey stemmed, and
the leaves are relatively fine and delicate - about 1/4 inch across rather
than the nearly 1 inch of Pseudosasa. And it's about 5ft high, growing in
a pot.

Sounds like Fargesia murielae
(Simba-perhaps )but cos it's in a pot the height can usually be a bit
misleading. FWIW none of the various Fargesia are flowering here not are the
black jobs (yet).

Is it definitely flowering

Grrr!!!!!
Are you suggesting I can't recognise a grass family flower when I see one?
Yes, it's flowering.

Not everyone recognises those bright red flowers:-)

or are they just showing
extra big leafy bits.
I can't remember which one the chap said was flowering but there appeared
to
be some confusion. None of mine are showing signs of flowering yet.
A fargesia murielae (not certain which one) flowered here about 8 years
ago
and died slowly. I never really noticed until I saw new seedlings
emerging.
AFAIK no one else around reported that they were flowering that year.
Oh yes to answer your original question:-
"The mechanism for the timing of flowering and dying is a phenomenon not
yet
understood. It is one of nature's baffling mysteries. "
http://www.bamboogarden.com/when%20bamboo%20flowers.htm

I've done a bit of googling.
There is a common belief that all the bamboos across the year flower in
the same year. This seems not to be true. However, bamboos for cultivation
are vegatatively produced and there seems to be a suggestion that all the
plants of a particular clone will flower at the same age. Flower and seed
production take it out of the plant, so it will look pretty miserable
afterwards and may not recover. Therefore, a mass flowering is looked upon
with alarm - not only is it followed by mass bamboo deaths, but the glut
of bamboo seed can lead to an explosion of rat populations.

So it looks like you will be hand feeding the Pandas this year.
BTW please keep the rats on your side of the hill:-)



--
Kay