Chusquea - Bamboo

DESCRIPTION: This is a group of evergreen Bamboos mainly from South America.C. culeou is a shrubby plant that forms wide, dense clumps. The dark olive green canes ordinarily grow from 8 to 11 feet high, but sometimes reach a height of 28 feet. These canes produce bunches of short, thin, leafy branches along their length. The new canes have noticeable white sheaths at each node. The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long and 1/4- to 1/2-inch wide tapering to a point. Because the canes aren't hollow, as most Bamboo's are, they are suitable for cutting since their leaves won't wilt so quickly.

POTTING: It should be grown in moist, fertile soil. It can be grown in full sun but will do much better in light shade. In the spring, the oldest shoots or those with dying tops, should be completely cut out. After pruning, they should be washed off with a hose. Old plants will benefit from a top-dressing of manure once in a while. The best canes that have been cut out at pruning time can be trimmed and used as stakes for the garden.

PROPAGATION: They can be increased by division in the spring. Pieces of stem can also be set down in a propagating case in the spring to produce shoots from the joints of the canes.

VARIETIES: C. culeou.

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