Pseudosasa hindsii
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Pseudosasa hindsii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Pleioblastus hindsii (Munro) Nakai
- Arundinaria hindsii Munro
Editorial Note
Bean treated this species under the synonym Arundinaria hindsii, while noting that the taxonomy was unclear (he associated it with a group of species now referred to Pleioblastus, namely P. simonii, P. argenteostriatus (syn. Arundinaria chino) and P. gramineus). On the current nomenclature of the genera included in the former Arundinaria, see the entry for that genus.
Stems tufted, 8 to 10 ft high, round, quite erect, up to 1 in. diameter, dark olive green, at first covered with a waxy bloom; joints often 8 to 10 in. apart; central pipe large. Branches erect, forming dense clusters at each joint. Leaves mostly erect, dark green above, rather glaucous beneath, glabrous on the surfaces, but with numerous bristle-like teeth on one margin and a few scattered ones on the other; the longest are 8 to 9 in. long, the broadest 3⁄4 to 1 in. wide, the average width from 1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in., tapered at the base, the apex long, tail-like. Secondary veins four to six each side the midrib.
Native of Hong Kong; introduced to Japan and thence to Europe. It is doubtful whether the plant in cultivation is the same species as the Hong Kong bamboo. Munro described a narrow-leaved plant which may be the same as a bamboo which flowered on the Island in 1897 and again in 1909; its spikelets are, however, slightly different from those of the plants of British gardens, which flowered in 1910 and 1911.
It is one of the least elegant of bamboos, similar in foliage to Pleioblastus gramineus, but less copiously leafy and with larger leaves. The stems and leaves are also stouter and darker green, the habit is less dense, and the plants do not ‘run’ so rapidly.