Phyllostachys vivax aka Smooth Sheath Bamboo

Phyllostachys vivax is a bamboo that stays green all year. It belongs to Poaceae, the grass family. Its common names include giant timber bamboo and running giant bamboo. It comes from eastern China and grows on plains and mountains. Records list these provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang. It forms part of that region’s temperate flora. It is not native to Britain or Ireland.

This bamboo grows fast to about 33 feet [10 metres] tall. It keeps its leaves through the year. Its height suits sites with room for a large plant. People also use its stems, which are called culms. They weave them into useful items and make farm-tool handles. The supplied species account gives no width for a full-grown plant. Nor does it give details of leaf or culm colours.

Choose a site with shelter and rich, damp soil. Give it plenty of water through the growing season. It can grow in part shade, such as light woodland. Woods’ edges and gardens with patches of shade also suit it. It accepts sand, loam and clay soils. Soil can be slightly acid, neutral or slightly alkaline. PFAF lists USDA zones 7–10. It also lists survival down to about −20°C. Yet long spells of hard frost can harm it. Plants still need shelter where winter cold stays within that range.

Flowers appear only after gaps of many years. Each flower has both male and female organs. Wind carries the pollen. Making seeds takes much of the plant’s energy. Plants can grow very weak after they flower. Some then die. Plants left alone often recover, though this can take several years. PFAF warns that artificial NPK feed then may raise death risk. The species resists honey fungus well. Seed is scarce. Dividing plants in spring offers another way to grow more.

The young shoots are edible, raw or cooked. PFAF notes little sharp, acrid taste, even in raw shoots. Shoots measure about 0.13–0.26 feet [0.04–0.08 metres] across. People harvest them in spring while they are still short. The source lists both shoots and stems as edible parts. It reports no known hazards. But it gives no separate check of safety for pets. It records no use as medicine. Its main recorded uses are food, woven goods and tool handles.