Description
Chusquea –
There are about 120 species of evergreen, clump forming bamboos, large enough to be treated as trees and/or shrubs, in this genus. They occur in upland woodland from Mexico to Chile. Chusquea have cylindrical, smooth, glossy, pith filled culms with 3 primary branches, borne alternately at the nodes, each branching densely and bearing linear to ovate, or oval, grass like, pointed, mid to dark green leaves. Flowers are rarely seen in cultivation. Use as specimen plants for a lawn or woodland garden. Tolerant of prolong dry conditions.
Grow in very humid conditions in humus rich, leafy, moist but well drained soil in sun or partial shade. Divide in spring.
Prone to slugs.
C. nigricans – This clump forming, arching, solid stemmed bamboo from Southern Chile grows 15′ feet tall and 12′ feet wide. It has one dominant, smooth, mid green culm, ½” across. Clustered branched, to 36″ long, arise from prominently swollen, mid culm nodes, they bear numerous linear, smooth, mid green leaves, 3-4″ long.
Zones 6-9
