Yellow-Groove Bamboo

Yellow-Groove Bamboo

Phyllostachya aureosulcata

Poaceae - The Grass Family

▲ mature colony

▲ ▼ individual clumps, with branching off stems visible below

▲ yellow, grooved stems

▲ leaf blade detail

Phyllostachya aureosulcata: Yellow Groove Bamboo

Location near campus: inside wall on the east side, southwest corner and southeast corner of the Japanese Stroll Garden at the Botanical Center

• Asian warm-season, running (creeping perennial) bamboo that can grow 15-30’ tall
• Stems emerge yellow-green and turn more yellow with age, maturing to a diameter of 1/2 to 2" (usually toward the smaller diameter in Missouri)
• Leaves are short and wide, 1/2-1" wide and 3-8" long on short branchlets off of main stems
• Leaf blades are semi-evergreen to evergreen and persist for up to several years
• Stems are perennial, becoming woody within the first year
• Plants may take 3-4 years to establish before they begin their rampant spread
• Yellow groove bamboo spreads by vigorous rhizomes which may grow 10-30’ away from original clump each year after the 3-4 year lag time to become established
• New shoots appear each spring, growing wider and taller in good spring growing conditions
• Unwanted shoots are easily mowed down & do not reappear until next spring’s growth flush, but the rhizomes can be covering a very wide area under ground
• Prefers moist fertile soils, full-sun to part shade; can tolerate drier soils, but with smaller growth
• Seldom flowers--may take decades--then all flowering stalks will die, but colony does not usually die