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*How to Select your bamboos
*How to plant, care, and control your bamboos

Phyllostachys atrovaginata

Other names: "Incense Bamboo"

Statistics:  Height:  30-50 feet   Diameter:  1.5-3 inches

Incense Bamboo is a medium-sized running bamboo.  It has a strong form with attractive, prominent nodes and small sunny-green leaves. Its medium-green canes grow to over 40 feet in height and 2½ inches in diameter.  It shoots in mid- to late spring.  The shoots are a very beautiful steely gray color with bright powdery white sheath margins and a sharp tip.  They are quite tasty.  Incense bamboo will naturally grow into a dense thicket.

The name Incense Bamboo comes from the pleasing grassy odor common to other timber bamboos, especially Henon, which waft throughout the grove during humid air conditions.  It is easiest to achieve here in Western Oregon with a little misting or irrigation in the summer.  If the conditions aren't right you probably won't notice it.  The smell is also noticeable during culm harvest as leaves get crushed and release the scent.