Shibatea sp.

Moderator: needmore

Post Reply
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Shibatea sp.

Post by johnw »

Spent yesterday digging pieces of this Shibatea in the south. I got it from a friend on Vancouver Island quite awhile back. I assumed it was kumasaca yet it never gets higher than knee-height. It has stayed in a clump about 4ft across from a 4" pot until this year when it's decided to go wandering 7 or more feet from the "clump". Could it be one of the other Shibatea spp.?

-1c at 22:45.
Attachments
Shibatea kumasaca Argyle-20121212-02045.jpg
Last edited by johnw on Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: Shibatea sp.

Post by Alan_L »

Brad can answer better than me, but Sh. chinensis looks pretty much identical to Sh. kumasaca. Sh. lancifolia (going from memory) looks quite different based on Brad's photos. Are there more in that genus than those three?

Is the parent plant that short too?
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Re: Shibatea sp.

Post by needmore »

I am aware of 4 members of the genus, one looks like Lancifolia (with longer leaves than yours) and the other 3 don't...so I can't tell those 3 apart but yours appears to be one of them. More than likely S kumasaca.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Re: Shibatea sp.

Post by johnw »

Alan - The main clump is the same height and it has never shown any signs of passing knee-height.

Funny the main clump is a tad yellow despite the soil being very acid and yet these new runners are a good normal green. I wonder if someone in the distant past might have been dumping ashes in the main clump area.

I got the plant simply as Shibatea and doubt the woman that gave it to me would have had access to the other species. Just curious why it has stayed so short as the climate is very mild down there.

We got some nice sturdy props off it on Wednesday.

This phenomenom of the tips dying with the first frost, and the edges of some Sasa leaves - what exactly is the mechanism? How can one part of the leaf be frost-sensitive and the rest of the leaf be hardy. Accumulation of something in tips and edges?

johnw - -2c and a bitter night ahead, maybe -8 to -10c.
Last edited by johnw on Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
ShmuBamboo
Posts: 707
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:35 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Around here someplace

Re: Shibatea sp.

Post by ShmuBamboo »

Those look very much like my Sh. kumasaca here, and they never grow more than 2 feet high, in pots or in the ground, in shade or full sun. The leaves burn for several reasons it seems. I have soft well water here, and the soil is acid, but the leaf tips still tend to burn here for whatever reason.
Happy trails...
Post Reply