Arundinaria vagans Gamble

The dwarfest of hardy bamboos, although the stems when drawn up in a dense mass will grow 2 ft high; they are bright green, about 1⁄16 in. diameter, with a hollow up the centre which would only admit of a needle point; joints 1 to 4 in. apart. Leaves 2 to 51⁄2 in. long, 1⁄3 to 1 in. wide, rounded at the base, rather abruptly narrowed at the apex to a slender point, sparsely hairy above, more so beneath. Secondary veins three to five each side the midrib.

Native of Japan. This little bamboo forms a low, dense carpet over the ground, and spreads with great rapidity. Because of its rampant habit it is not suited for borders or kept portions of the garden, but may be relegated to the wilder parts, where it will hold its own against the most vigorous of our native weeds. Among the dwarf creeping sorts with green leaves, the velvety under-surface of the leaves will best distinguish it.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The correct name for this species in Arundinaria is A. ramosa (Makino) Nakai syns. Bambusa ramosa Makino (1900); Sasa ramosa (Makino) Makino & Shibata (1901); Arundinaria vagans Gamble (1915); Sasaella ramosa (Makino) Makino; Arundinaria viridi-striata var. vagans (Gamble) Nakai; Pleioblastus viridi-striatus var. vagans (Gamble) Nakai.

In Ohwi’s Flora of Japan this species appears under Sasa, though some authorities place it in the minor segregate genus Sasaella.