Arundainaria g. variant?

[ChrisM]

I am attaching some pics taken of some wild growing boo from Lookout Mt., AL. Most of what I came across was under 30". One grove along a trail reached between 5-6' at the most and had a good deal of sun exposure, but none had culms of any diameter, 1/8" at best. I see A.g. growing here in central AL around swamps and this looks nothing like it or like the division I have from OH. All was growing either in low areas or on slopes above a seasonal streams, most under heavy shade. I did collect some and although most didn't survive due to inadequate roots, I didn't have a shovel, I do have some with new leaf growth. I just wanted to share and get your thoughts.
Chris

[rfgpitt]

ChrisM,
Thanks for posting these pictures. I saw the same stuff while on VaCa in Hilton Head, SC earlier in the year.
I didn't have time to take pictures, and was not sure about taking a division where it was located
(and didn't have a shovel either). The tallest I saw was about 4' - 5'.

[David]

It's hard to tell from the pics, but considering where its growing and its short stature it is very likely A. tecta.

[Roy]

It's hard to tell from the pics, but considering where its growing and its short stature it is very likely A. tecta.

David,

I'm with you. It looks like what I remember seeing low lying areas in Mississippi, Florida, Alabamba, ............. (ARUNDINARIA gigantea ssp. Tecta)

This is a picture I took in Jones County, Mississippi.

ARUNDINARIA gigantea ssp. Tecta
<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo/A_g_tecta.jpg" alt="ARUNDINARIA gigantea ssp. Tecta">

[ChrisM]

Well gentlemen do both forms occur regionally? The stuff I see nearby, although I haven't dug any, seems to have a noticeably thick culms. It still have very short branching though. I guess in the next few weeks I need to go dig some of the local variety to compare to my tecta and gigantea'ohio'. Thanks for the input.
Chris

[Roy]

Well gentlemen do both forms occur regionally? The stuff I see nearby, although I haven't dug any, seems to have a noticeably thick culms. It still have very short branching though. I guess in the next few weeks I need to go dig some of the local variety to compare to my tecta and gigantea'ohio'. Thanks for the input.
Chris

Where I have seen A. g. 'tecta' is in low lying areas where there is plenty of water. As I travel, when I travel by car, I usually see some of the tecta growing along the road side in river/creeks/streams basins. Never see regular A. g.

[David]

Chris,

We have both forms in Tennessee and as Roy said I see a lot of tecta along the interstate in low areas. Once you develop a tecta recognition geon you see it all over the place. I hadn't thought of it prior to Roy mentioning it, but I've not seen gigantea, and tecta growing together. I want to temper all that I have said by saying that the native bamboo of North America is a recent interest of mine and my knowledge of it is basic.

I recently went on an A.G. mission along Stones river, and discovered some very nice stands just as I had been told by a friend. Its a good looking clone and I'll procure some of it this Fall when the ground is softer, and the air cooler. It's a couple of miles back in the brush, and very rough going. Probably why it's still surviving, and hasn't been burned back or sprayed with herbacides. The largest piece I measured was .84 in X 16' 3'. I suspect there were larger, but that was pretty typical of what I saw.

David

[ChrisM]

My immediate thought was that is was tecta, but with only a few pics on this data base they didn't quite seem to match. With Roy's pic it seems obvious my gut instinct was correct. It is a cool, not overwhelming variety that I look forward to establishing in a very shaded area as a groundcover/shrub.
Chris

[hotchkiss]

Two years ago I tried to locate some local stands of A. gigantea and A. gigantea tecta. I thought most of the plants I had noticed were A. g. tecta but in fact most were A. gigantea. In our area rivers and large creeks have broad floodplains and this is where we find A. gigantea. Plants growing in full sun are larger than those growing in the shade. It was the shaded plants that I mistook for tecta. When I found tecta it was on a seepage slope above a small creek (in south Georgia we call them branches). In general, A. gigantea is taller, larger in diameter, has shorter branches, smaller leaves, and lacks air canals in the rhizomes. The air canals are the most distinct difference in the two subspecies. To further complicate the matter there is a third form that is not recognized officially but was described in the 1930's from the mountains of North Carolina and was known at the time as A. tecta decidua. As the name indicates it is deciduous although the tan leaves hang on the plant for a long time in our southern winters. I have seen plants that fit this description in the foothills of the Appalachians in North Georgia. Mike Turner of Marietta, SC is very familiar with this form and sees it as definitely different from A. g. tecta. I agree. I don't think it has the air canals but they are usually short plants with relatively small leaves. The pictures you posted look like tecta but check for air canals (they appear as a ring of small holes near the outside edge of the rhizome). Because of the location (NE Alabama) and elevation, you may have found some plants of the deciduous form. I will try to post some pictures of our local gigantea and tecta and after I visit N. Ga. in October, some decidua.

Mike

[Chris S]

A new treatment of N American bamboos has just been published which sorts out this problem nicely. For information on this see the news page of my new website:

http://bamboo-identification.co.uk/html/news.html

[rfgpitt]

Chris S,
Glad you decided to join. In all my travels (Internet), I've yet to find your site. Thanks for providing the link.

Look me up if you're in the states and want a division of my 'whateveritis' vivax.

[Thuja]

Wow! That's very nice work. That will give us some new & interesting reading material. Now I suddenly feel the desire to add Arundinaria appalachiana to my collection. Thanks!

[hotchkiss]

Chris,

Thanks for the link to the article. I knew Jim and Lynn were working in this area but did not know they had published. This is very exciting. The similarities in the branching of A. appalachiana and Ps. japonica are amazing. Do you know who we would contact to get permission to post the article on our SE Chapter/ABS website - Lynn or the journal?

Mike

[ChrisM]

Having examined my plants and read the article it appears that I do have A. appalachiana. To make it more comfirmed my collection site was one of theirs. I really thought it was different than I had seen before. Thanks for all the help guys, especially the article.
Chris

[foxd]

This has me wondering now what type of Arundinaria I have growing. Weather permitting, I'll take a close look at it this evening. Does appalachiana have fewer branches than gigantea?