Arundinaria humilis
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Arundinaria humilis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Synonyms
- Pleioblastus humilis (Mitf.) Nakai
- Bambusa nagashima Hort.
- Arundinaria fortunei var. viridis Hort.
Other taxa in genus
- Arundinaria anceps
- Arundinaria angustifolia
- Arundinaria aristata
- Arundinaria chino
- Arundinaria chrysantha
- Arundinaria disticha
- Arundinaria falcata
- Arundinaria falconeri
- Arundinaria fastuosa
- Arundinaria gigantea
- Arundinaria graminea
- Arundinaria hindsii
- Arundinaria japonica
- Arundinaria jaunsarensis
- Arundinaria marmorea
- Arundinaria murielae
- Arundinaria murieliae
- Arundinaria nitida
- Arundinaria pumila
- Arundinaria quadrangularis
- Arundinaria simonii
- Arundinaria spathiflora
- Arundinaria tecta
- Arundinaria tootsik
- Arundinaria vagans
- Arundinaria variegata
- Arundinaria viridistriata
A dwarf, rapidly spreading bamboo, 2 to 5 ft high as a rule, with a creeping rhizome; stems very slender, and with a minute hollow up the centre; stem-sheaths purplish at first. Leaves bright green on both sides, 2 to 7 in. long, 1⁄3 to 3⁄4 in. wide, rounded at the base, slender-pointed; secondary veins three to five each side the midrib; leaf-sheaths with two clusters of bristles at the top.
A native of Japan, long grown in gardens as A. fortunei (‘green form’). The true A. fortunei (now A. variegata) is well marked by its white-variegated leaves. I am, however, unable to see any real distinction between it and the Bambusa nagashima of French nurserymen; nor is there much to choose between these two and A. chrysantha, except the occasional variegation of the last. A. humilis, without possessing any special merit, forms pleasant masses of greenery from midsummer onwards.
It flowered for the first time in 1964 at the tips of a few stems and has continued to do so since, but most of the stems remain in the vegetative state (1969).