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Chusquea culeou - E.Desv.

Culeu

Author	E.Desv.	Botanical references	11, 200
Family	Gramineae	Genus	Chusquea
Synonyms	Chusquea andina - Phil. Chusquea breviglumis - hort.
Known Hazards	None known
Range	S. America - Argentina, Chile.
Habitat	Montane woodlands in the Andes[162].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen Bamboo growing to 5m by 2.5m at a fast rate.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Stem.

Young shoots - cooked[25, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

Musical; Wood.

The canes are used in making musical instruments, plain furniture and fencing[139].

Cultivation details

Prefers a damp humus rich soil[200]. Prefers an open loam of reasonable quality, doing well on peat[11]. Likes plenty of moisture in the growing season[11]. Established plants are drought tolerant[25, 162, 195]. They require a position sheltered from cold north and east winds[11, 200]. A very hardy plant[25, 162], tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c[200]. Another report says that the plant is probably only hardy in the milder areas of the country[1]. It succeeds outdoors at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens[195] and is growing well at Kew[K]. 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[195]. The rootstock is caespitose, new shoots are produced from late April and can grow 15cm overnight[25]. Plants take 2 - 3 years to settle down after being moved but are then quite fast growing[162]. Another report says that they are slow growing[188]. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus[200]. Plants flower and produce seed annually in the wild without dying as a result of the flowering[162]. 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[214].

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[200]. 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[200]. Basal cane cuttings.

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[25] Lawson. Bamboos. Faber 1968
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.

[139] ? Flora of Chile. (in Spanish) 0
Some information about the useful plants of Chile.

[162] Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9
Cultivation details of many of the grasses and bamboos. Well illustrated.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. 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.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[195] Farrelly. D. The Book of Bamboo Sierra Club. 1984 ISBN 0-87156-825-X
Very readable, giving lots of information on the uses of bamboos, both temperate and tropical.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. 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.

[214] Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. 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.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Chusquea culeou

Tom Bennett Fri Oct 29 22:13:19 1999

For several years I grew Chusquea culeou in my garden in the north-east of England. It was originally given to me by the late John Treasure, of Tenbury Wells who got it from Christopher Lloyd, the noted plantsman and author of E. Sussex.

It thrived in a windy and somewhat miserable position, on medium soil, overlying heavy clay (though never waterlogged) and reached a height of 2.5m with a clump circumference of, I suppose, 4m. From an original one cane in 1989, there were 20-25 by 1997.

It never gave me any cause for concern and I propagated several plants for friends who admired it. I found that always at the base of the clump were some very small and wispy canes (with the diameter of straw). If one carefully scraped the soil away from around these, attached roots could be seen. If these canes and roots were detached from the clump in early May with a razor blade and potted-up, a plant good enough to plant out by the following late summer could be had.

I'd always understood that C. culeou didn't set seed in the UK, or if it did it wasn't viable - and this brings me on to the main point of this e-mail.

In 1998, my plant set masses of seed. On the offchance I gathered some last August and sowed it straight away. Within a fortnight it had germinated and was coming up like mustard and cress. I now have 50 plants, pricked-out and potted-up in 3.5" pots, mostly at the 5-6 cane stage. I did lose some but seeing as I moved to S.E England late last year, and I wasn't as careful of them as I should have been, they've come through very well.

Your entry on the net suggests C. culeou is tricky; my experience is that it is robust. It isn't difficult to propogate by division and my seedlings belie all I had previously read. Is my experience a fluke? I can't tell you whether or not the original plant has survived its seeding as, sadly, it was just too big to bring with me. When i last saw it last Xmas, it had enough green amongst the brown leaves to suggest it was probably going to pull through.

- Tom Bennett Stondon Massey, Essex.

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