Fargesia (borinda) Yunnanensis

[canadianplant]

I bought these seeds on a whim. Of course, the information is slim to nil online about this species. So that leads me to believe that it is either a newer species, or it has been confused (like many of the fargesia/borinda species).

I did see PaulOnt looking for some information. IF you read this paul and have some information, please share it. If anyone knows anything as well, please let me know!

[Paul Ont]

Hey man.

My seeds never arrived! From what I researched, it is a pretty tender mountain species. I think that I did dig up someone cliaming that -15C had top-killed it... Still, with such sparse information I would be tempted to try.

Oh, if you search on ebay right now you can find seeds of F. spatheca (spelling?) which was, until recently, considered the same species as F. nitida... Just saying that that if the seeds are I.D.'s correctly, that could be a good one (solid zone 5 plant, maybe zone 4!). The plant is not in cultivation currently.

[canadianplant]

Ah, If i manage to sprout some Paul, I would gladly send you a pot or 2. I also ordered Fargesia Fungosa. Probably not hardy here or there, but I thought I would try something new!

Too bad they never showed! The only reason Im interested is the lack of information. The source stating -28C was interesting, but I cant find a thing of a dead set temp. Ive seen the same as you, temps ranging from -15C to -25C ish. I did find out that its from south west Yunnan, into sichuan (sp). The climate ranges from alpine sub tropical, to alpine temperate. Thats all I can find personally.

Fargesia spathacea would be interesting. I dont have paypal, though. If what you say its true I hope you decide to get some for yourself. Thanks for the tip!

[seedscanada]

for info on plants, hardiness, classification, etc, I rely on davesgarden.com
To search a species, I go to google search the species followed by the word dave's.. like this:
fargesia spathacea dave's
this way you don't need to sign up as a member to take advantage of this valuable resource!
I do encourage joining davesgarden as a member though.

http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2004/0 ... cbdbd1.jpg

It seems it is Borinda fungosa, rather than Fargesia

[canadianplant]

The thing about daves garden, is it can be edited by almost anyone. I usually use it as a starting point in my search for plant info. I take the info from that site with a grain of salt. Not saying it isnt useful, just that in more "hardcore" botanical conversations, I wouldnt base my info strictly on that site. Although, the one thing I do see thats pretty bang on most of the time, is the "proper" names, and/or synonyms.

So, First thing. Paul, I ordered 3 packs of those seeds ("fargesia" spathcea). Let me know if your interested.

Second, It was mentioned that F spathacea has been confused with F nitida. Even now it is still under the common name "fountain bamboo". It has also been mistaken for F Murielae ( to my reading, Nitida was confused with Murelae as well), as well as F Dracocephala ( the "proper" name for F rufa, which is supposedly now"F dracocephala "rufa". "rufa", being a variation). The EBS (European Bamboo Society), states, that most, if not all plants formally labeled F. spathacea, are in fact a variation on F. nitida.

That being said, I also found a source that states there is actually a species named F spathacea. I couldnt find to much on the actual species, only that the name has been changed from Semiarundinaria, to Borinda, to Thalmnocalamus to Fargesia, and back to one of the former. After all that, it turns out it was F nitida after all these years. This taxonomy stuff is crazy in regards to bamboo lol.

The seller on ebay, has 4 different pictures, of what I think are 2 or 3 different bamboo. The one in the main picture definitely is not the same as the other bamboo shown. So, what exactly am I getting? From what I can tell, it can either be Fargesia nitida, dracocephala, muielae, or spathacea. All should have a decent chance in my climate, all are gorgeous, and I dont have any, except a Fargesia Dracocephala "rufa" clone. I wouldnt mind some "real" dracocephalla, and I like my odds of getting something different.