Phyllostachys edulis seed

LATIN NAME: Phyllostachys edulis

COMMON NAME: Moso Bamboo

Few plants grow as fast or as tall as the moso bamboo, and fewer still are woven so deeply into the life of the people who live beside it. The moso is a giant, running bamboo, with the smooth, green culms that rise straight and close together, reaching up to twenty metres or more, and the fine, lance-shaped leaves that rattle in the breeze from the upper branches. The young shoots push up through the ground in the spring with startling speed, and a grove of the moso is a place of green light and moving leaves. It is a species of the true grass in the grass family, native to the warm, moist forests of the eastern Asia, and it is known as the moso bamboo.

The moso bamboo belongs to the true grass family, Poaceae, and it is a giant, running bamboo of the warm, moist forests of the eastern Asia. Its smooth, green culms and its fine, rattling leaves make it one of the most important bamboos of the region. It is known as the moso bamboo, and it is treasured for its great size and its many uses.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The moso bamboo has been studied in the botany and the forestry for its astonishing growth, and the way the young shoots rise so quickly and the culms harden so fast has been carefully watched. The plant has been written about in the forestry and botanical papers as one of the fastest-growing of the woody plants, and its role in the forests of the region has been examined. Its shoots and its timber have been studied for their food and building value, and the bamboo has been looked at for its many uses and its quick regrowth. The grove has also been studied for the soil it holds and the shelter it gives. For a grass that grows like no other, the moso bamboo has a rich and practical record of study.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

For the people of the region, the moso bamboo is a plant of a hundred uses. The young shoots are a valued food of the spring, and the tall, straight culms have long been used for the building, the furniture and the craft of the region, while the grove holds the soil and gives a cool, sheltered place. In the garden the moso is a bold, striking plant, but it is a runner, and it needs its space or a good root barrier. For a gardener who has the room, the moso gives a grove of green light and moving leaves that is like nothing else. Sow the rare, grass-like seeds at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots warm and evenly moist in a bright, sheltered spot and give the young shoots their space, and they’ll come along in their own good time.