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Sasa veitchii

culm sheath with auricles and spreading setae culm sheaths pilose and waxy leaf sheaths with auricles and spreading setae
new leaves all green
winter foliage
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see photos at BambooWeb
exact origin unknown
see account in Index to Japanese Bambusaceae
no account in Flora of China
see listing in ABS Species & Sources List
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See description in Kew's GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
See description in Kew's GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

Sasa veitchii (Carrire) Rehder, J. Arnold Arbor. 1: 58. 1919.

Synonyms: Bambusa veitchii Carrire, Rev. Hort. 1888: 90. 1888; Arundinaria veitchii (Carrire) N. E. Br.; Phyllostachys bambusoides var. albomarginata Miq.; Sasa albomarginata (Miq.) Makino & Shibata.

  Missouri Botanical Garden's Tropicos Database of Names  TROPICOS

    International Plant Names Index   IPNI

   Multilingual Multiscript Plant Names Database  MMPND

  POWO

Culms 0.5-2 m tall, 0.4-0.7 cm thick; internodes 5.5-10 cm, glabrous, green, initially waxy, nodes not raised, branches single. Culm sheaths pilose with spreading hairs, particularly near the base, waxy; auricles strongly developed; oral setae spreading; blade small, reflexed. Leaf sheaths conspicuously glaucous when young with thick wax; auricles strongly developed; oral setae spreading; blade 10-20 cm long, 3.5-5.5 cm wide, thickly papery, glabrous, with 7-9 pairs of secondary veins and a yellowish midrib, developing broad whitened dead margins in winter. Named after the Veitch family of 19th century London nurserymen.

In the smaller species of Sasa the distinction between culm sheaths and leaf sheaths is weak, and the characteristics of both are quite variable.

Native to Japan, where it is widely cultivated, Sasa veitchii has the most striking winter foliage, with large leaves that have extreme necrosis of the tips and margins, which is seen to some extent in nearly all species of Sasa. It is usually planted mainly for its winter appeal. The best plants of this species are shorter, forming a more compact and neat carpet, as larger forms can get straggly and untidy.

There are also cultivars of this species with variegated leaf blades, but variegation detracts from the contrast between the dark green colour and the white borders.

 

 

[kurilensis] [palmata] [veitchii] [quelpaertensis]