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Poaceae FAMILY

Chusquea culeou

Chusquea culeou

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Bamboo
GrowthFast

Prefers a damp humus rich soil[1]. Prefers an open loam of reasonable quality, doing well on peat[2]. Likes plenty of moisture in the growing season[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[3, 4, 5]. They require a position sheltered from cold north and east winds[2, 1]. A very hardy plant[3, 4], tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c[1]. Another report says that the plant is probably only hardy in the milder areas of the country[6]. It succeeds outdoors at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens[5] and is growing well at Kew[PFAF]. This species is found further south in the world than any other species of bamboo, it grows in Chile as far south as latitude 47°south[5]. The rootstock is caespitose, new shoots are produced from late April and can grow 15cm overnight[3]. Plants take 2 - 3 years to settle down after being moved but are then quite fast growing[4]. Another report says that they are slow growing[7]. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus[1]. Plants flower and produce seed annually in the wild without dying as a result of the flowering[4]. Plants of the cultivar 'Tenuis' have been observed to be flowering in 1994, this is the first record of this species flowering in the northern hemisphere[8].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse at about 20°c. Do not allow the compost to dry out. Germination usually takes place fairly quickly so long as the seed is of good quality, though it can take 3 - 6 months. Grow on in a lightly shaded place in the greenhouse until large enough to plant out. Seed is rarely available. Division in spring as new growth commences. Very difficult[1]. Take divisions with at least four canes in the clump, trying to cause as little root disturbance to the main plant as possible. Grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse in pots of a high fertility sandy medium. Mist the foliage regularly until plants are established. Plant them out into their permanent positions when a good root system has developed, which can take a year or more[1]. Basal cane cuttings. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Chusquea+culeou>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]Bamboos. — Lawson. · Faber · 1968 · ISBN - ↩︎Fairly comprehensive, it was once the standard work but is now rather dated. Deals with species hardy in Britain, giving cultivation details and some uses.
  4. [4]Ornamental Grasses. — Grounds. R. · Christopher Helm · 1989 · ISBN 0-7470-1219-9 ↩︎Cultivation details of many of the grasses and bamboos. Well illustrated.
  5. [5]The Book of Bamboo — Farrelly. D. · Sierra Club. · 1984 · ISBN 0-87156-825-X ↩︎Very readable, giving lots of information on the uses of bamboos, both temperate and tropical.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  8. [8]The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. — Matthews. V. · Royal Horticultural Society · 1994 · ISBN 1352-4186 ↩︎A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.
  9. [9]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  10. [10]Flora of Chile. (in Spanish) — ? ↩︎Some information about the useful plants of Chile.
  11. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎