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Bambusa textilis, also known as slender bamboo, clumping bamboo and weaver's bamboo, is a species of bamboo in the Poaceae (grasses) family that is native to China. The subspecies var. gracilis is heavily cultivated in Australia.[1]

Bambusa textilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Bambusa
Species:	B. textilis
Binomial name
Bambusa textilis McClure, 1940
Synonyms
Bambusa varioaurita W.T.Lin & Z.J.Feng Bambusa textilis var. purpurascens Bambusa textilis f. purpurascens Bambusa textilis var. pubescens Bambusa textilis var. maculata Bambusa textilis var. gracilis Bambusa textilis var. glabra Bambusa minutiligulata W.T.Lin & Z.M.Wu Bambusa glaucescens var. annulata Bambusa annulata W.T.Lin & Z.J.Feng

Description

Slender bamboo is a giant, densely leaved, upright bamboo, that grows in a tight clump up to 6 to 10 meters high and 2 meters in width at a fast rate and has a stem size of 3cm.[2]

Having elegant leaves that are lanceolate shaped, 9-25 x 1-2.5 cm long, and greenish blue-hued culm that is glossy and leathery, its long green internodes, 35-60 cm, change to yellow during prolonged sunlight exposure. Despite being an evergreen, some leaf loss can be expected in winter, but this depends on the location and microclimate.[3]

The stalk and the rhizome are one, making it a non-invasive plant. The top part of the short rhizome has buds, one of which grows into another very truncated rhizome that then turns upward to surface from the ground as a subsidiary culm close to the parent.[4]

Distribution

In its native southern China, it usually found near rivers, on hills and villages at low altitudes in the Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces.[5] It has been naturalized in Hawaii, Florida, Colombia and Puerto Rico.[6]

Cultivation

It is cultivated in particular to constitute hedges or privacy screens in suburban yards and can be planted in subtropical/tropical gardens where it can complement the native rainforest flora, and as well as in garden beds near a fence. It can also provide both noise and wind break, in addition to tolerating winds and temperatures as low as -10°C. Growing best in full sun to part shade, it may benefit from some mulch and nitrogen fertiliser.[7]

The variety var. gracilis is one of the most popular bamboos, especially in Australia, which is known as Gracilis bamboo, that forms a sightly slender clump and grows no more than 8 metres high. It reaches maturity within 3-5 years, depending on the weather and soil.[8] A gracilis in a 200mm container would usually grow to around 3 to 4 meters in 12 months. The glabra variety features more white on the lower areas of the internodes, giving the plant a striped appearance, and the fusca variety is larger, growing up to 12 meters and would top a 3 storey building.[9]

Varieties

• B. textilis var. fusca
• B. textilis var. glabra
• B. textilis var. gracilis
• B. textilis var. maculata
• B. textilis var. textilis

References

Sources

• "Bambusa textilis McClure". Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• "Bambusa textilis". Flora of China – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
• "Bambusa textilis McClure (1940)". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
• "Bambusa textilis McClure". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List.
• "Bambusa textilis McClure". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
• "Bambusa textilis McClure, 1940". Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer (UBIO).

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