On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:34:34 +0000, echinosum
wrote:


Pam Moore;770608 Wrote:
My bamboo, phyllostachys nigra, went black and flowered last year. I
cut it all down to the ground and anticipated that that was the end of
it.
Then it sent out a lot of new shoots which looked healthy.
Having read your post I have looked at it today and all the leaves are
black. Incidentally, last summer I saw clumps of it black and flowering
in 3
public gardens. It is said that once they flower they die, which is
what I thought was happening to mine. Time will tell.

Pam in Bristol
Are you absolutely sure? I have recently heard of a few cases of P
Nigra flowering, but they have all turned out to be Fargesia nitida,
which really is flowering. Do your canes have a clear groove (sulcus)
- one on every segment, on alternating sides of the cane swapping over
at each node? That is a surefire identifier of Phyllostachys. For
example, in this one the sulcus is coloured yellow:
http://tinyurl.com/yoms7y.
The unscrupulous often sell F nitida as P Nigra.

You were lucky if yours came back. You may just find it comes back to
flower again. But there are some cases of it recovering.

Absolutely sure what? Do you mean is it P. nigra?


Pam in Bristol