Wanted Clone X

[rbkelso]

I am looking for a Clone X bamboo.Have Kanapaha to trade.

[mantis]

Hi, I'll trade you a clone-x for a chunk of Kanapaha.

I'm in Sugar Land, so it's about a 45 minute drive from Waller.

-mike.

[marcat]

Dang you beat me to it Mantis...
MarCat

[mantis]

Dang you beat me to it Mantis...
MarCat

Not to mention that I'm over 100 miles closer.

[marcat]

Yea that helps too...living in the boondocks does have it's drawbacks.
MarCat

[Roy]

Standing Offer for Bambooweb.info Forum Members

Drive to my house in Tampa, Florida, USA and I'll let you dig a free one of these:




Off of this clump of B. sp. 'Clone X'

[boonut]

Mantis really doesn't want a backyard... he wants a booyard.

[mantis]

Standing Offer for Bambooweb.info Forum Members

Drive to my house in Tampa, Florida, USA and I'll let you dig a free one of these:

Off of this clump of B. sp. 'Clone X'

The clone-x I have to trade originated from your clone-x

[mantis]

Mantis really doesn't want a backyard... he wants a booyard.

Today I dug out a B. doli. 'Green Stripe', B. multi. 'Golden Goddess', B. tuldoides, and B. vulgaris. I planted a B. chungii 'Barbi', Guadua amplexifolia, and have a B. oldhamii coming my way. It was a good boo day.

[Roy]

Mantis really doesn't want a backyard... he wants a booyard.

Hey Boonut,

You took some pictures of my Clone X when you were in Tampa last year. I didn't see them posted on bambooweb.info. Where did you have them posted? One or more of your pictures of my Clone X looked impressive.

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

Roy, the clone X comes originally from you, right? Can you tell us of its origins?

[Roy]

Roy, the clone X comes originally from you, right? Can you tell us of its origins?

Here's also the article on Clone X that appeared in the ABS BAMBOO magazine:

What is 'Clone X'?
A summary by Betty Shor

So, Steve Carter likes a clumper that he calls Bambusa ventricosa 'Clone X'. Steve got his plant from Roy Rogers in Tampa, Florida. Rogers said recently:
"I first saw 'Clone X' in the early 1980s, growing in a backyard, several blocks from my house. December 25 and 26, 1983, we had back-to-back nights of 19?F after having weeks of 80? highs and 60? lows. Large numbers of hardy plants were decimated.
"A few months later, I walked through the alleyway, next to the backyard where I had seen the 'Clone X'. I expected to see nothing but dead culms, but the opposite was true. It was still busy and green with no dead culms. I knew then that I had to have some of that bamboo.
"Within a few years, 'Clone X' had grown out into the alleyway and I went over and dug out a few pieces. The tops I brought home and cut up into small sections and placed them in the roof drip area behind my house. The next summer, I had a lot of 'Clone X' babies from the culm cuttings.
"I tried for years to get 'Clone X' to belly, but I have yet to be able to get it to belly. I do believe, that under the right conditions, it might possibly belly some, but I haven't found out what those conditions are yet.
"I planted a piece of 'Clone X' and regular Buddha's Belly side by side and grew them for 10 years. In the 10 years, the 'Clone X' has made a gigantic clump, while having several hundred culms dug off it. It produced at least 10 times more culms than the regular Buddha's Belly during this time.
"How did this bamboo get to Tampa, Florida? I talked to the owner of the house, where the 'Clone X' was located, and he told me that a military officer from MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, had owned the house before him and that the officer had brought it back from Asia.
"What do I think that it is? I think that it is a superior seedling of B. ventricosa (Buddha's Belly). It has all the identifying characteristics of B. ventricosa, but doesn't belly and is much more vigorous. It's the most vigorous and prolific bamboo I have. It is not for small back yards. I have a _-acre backyard and it takes up too much room. I could use the room it takes for planting several other bamboos. I've had a lot of people dig on it in the last 6 years or so, and it just keeps replacing itself."
Steve Carter recently said to a bamboo acquaintance:
"My 'Clone X' is the largest bamboo mass on my place although it was planted 2 years later than many other plants here including Buddha's Belly from other sources. Roy Rogers generosity in allowing folks to dig off this plant continues to spread to others. Darwin Nelson came back from a Florida run telling me about the wonders he saw and people he met. He told me about this huge bamboo in Roy's yard that was the biggest thing imaginable. He said Roy would let us dig a start if we came back! Wow, I had to get to Florida!
"Darwin was so kind as to let me ride along with him on his next run over to collect plants. Darwin is responsible for getting so many of the new introductions into Texas and out into collectors hands. I am very grateful for folks like this that share their enthusiasm and friendship. Look at how many hands this one division has passed thru. This is typical of many of the other plants Darwin has helped get into the state."
And more recently Carter amplified:
"Darwin Nelson lives in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was very big into bamboo down here and introduced many of the plants from Florida into Texas. He had 'Spring Flings" at his bamboo farm in George West every year where the public and Texas Bamboo Society members were invited. These were very large events with food, fun and lots of bamboo to sell and trade. He moved these events to his new place at Bayside, Texas just outside of Corpus Christy for the last two events. These last few years he has not held any more events. His son is John Nelson ? Darwin Nelson is well known and respected in the Texas bamboo crowd and a great friend of mine."
Pieces of this distinctive bamboo were well distributed around south-central Texas. Nelson and Carter dug at least 7 starts from it to begin with, and they shared with others. Rogers said that this rampant grower grew back again within the year.
Now, about that name: Rogers attached the varietal name 'Clone X' to his bamboo from the alley. Like some others, he does not like the association of Bambusa tuldoides with 'ventricosa'. He says:
"Bambusa tuldoides is a bamboo that grows erect and is about 2.25 inches by 50 feet tall. 'Clone X' grows in what I call a fan-shaped, or weeping-over as some people use the terminology to describe it, stance and grows up to 85 feet tall by a maximum diameter of 3.25 inches. The latter measurements I have physically measured myself.
"The more accurate name, which would more accurately reflect what the plant looks like, would be Bambusa ventricosa 'Clone X' or for the people who truly believe that B. ventricosa is a step-child of B. tuldoides, then Bambusa tuldoides ventricosa 'Clone X.' "
In the 2005 Species Source List Rogers's plant is given as B. tuldoides 'Clone X', the same as it has been since 2002; in 2001 this entry was given as B. ventricosa 'Clone X.' The explanation (by George Shor) in the 2002 list was a quotation from Chris Stapleton:
"Ohrnberger has authoritatively placed ventricosa as a cultivar of B. tuldoides. This had apparently not been noticed by the Chinese, who are no doubt more skilled at keeping bonsai plants small. Most westerners, who are not as good at managing their bonsai properly, have ended up with the normal form, which is exactly the same as B. tuldoides."
But is ventricosa truly a variant of tuldoides? Taxonomy in flowering plants depends a great deal on the flowers. Records on flowering in ventricosa are skimpy; do they indicate a relationship to tuldoides, for which there are extensive flowering records? I believe that the debate is not settled. For that matter, I am not totally convinced that 'Clone X' is a variant of ventricosa.
On any basis of where this plant stands in taxonomy, I am urging Roy Rogers to give it a more distinctive varietal name, which he - as the discoverer, at least in ABS circles - is entitled to do. It seems to be a very significant bamboo. Something along the lines of "tall" or "spectacular" or "prolific" in Latin or Greek would do, and so would "Alley Cat."

[boonut]

Hey Boonut,

You took some pictures of my Clone X when you were in Tampa last year. I didn't see them posted on bambooweb.info. Where did you have them posted? One or more of your pictures of my Clone X looked impressive.

Here is the picture... I have it on one of my galleries on the boonut.com website> That is Gracie (my wife) and Chuck's son next to the Clone X. The top of the picture has soo much sun, it doesn't really give you an idea of how large it really is.

[Roy]

Hey Boonut,

You took some pictures of my Clone X when you were in Tampa last year. I didn't see them posted on bambooweb.info. Where did you have them posted? One or more of your pictures of my Clone X looked impressive.

Here is the picture... I have it on one of my galleries on the boonut.com website>

Yelp. That's the one I remember. Definitely showing size comparison.

[mike best]

Roy you discovered one heck of a bamboo. Mine is growing faster and bigger than the ventricosa. What an interesting story! Would be interesting to know where in Asia it came from was it Vietnam? Can you give a better description of what the tops look like? Can you ell me what the tops look like, I mean are they bushy and thick like say a ventricosa or what? Both photos are clearly showing masses of culms but I can not see the leaves. In the photo it looks like it has few leaves, all culms and branches, but I realize the lighting is affecting what it really looks like.