It looks like a shoot and not a rhizome to me. I doubt it would grow if you planted it.

Sorry, I was kidding about planting it. Bad joke. Should have typed a ";)". Actually it's a wall decoration. I have it hanging in the livingroom, scaring off the evil spirits.

Thanks!

Wow! That is a very cool peice of bamboo! From the first pic, I couldn't tell it was bamboo, but the second pic looks like the top of a bamboo shoot. Very cool!

The reason I think it's a rhizome is that the hairs on the monk are roots. Maybe the top of his head is where you would cut off a bamboo shoot for harvesting?? Then if you dig out the rhizome directly below the cut maybe this is what was used for the carving material?

It's approximately 8" wide by 20" heigh including the root "hairs."

It's surely the shoot of a large tropical clumper. The curve at the bottom is the rhizome neck and that is the point at which it attached to the clump. Very nice, now what would you like to trade for it - I'm sure that it stands a better chance here in 5b/6 than your 4....

Trades? I am sure that it would winter over even better in my balmy zone 8 - maybe even survive in an unheated greenhouse.

"Scaring off the evil spirits"?!?!!???!
I was going to suggest you hang a prayer and place a vase of (dare I say it) Lucky Bamboo nearby. That thing is scary! Interesting. Artistic. But scary!

From the back it looks like an Alien autopsy.

Nice find, though.

Where can I get one?

Root hairs? I don't think so. Those "hairs" are on the top side of the shoot. I think those are young leaves that have been sliced thin and teased out.

I have a carved bamboo mask of a chinese peasant who has hair made of roots. I bought it in Hong Kong when I worked there. Not as ornate as this and hair is much shorter. The monk is a much better item. Congrats on a great purchase.
RGds

tcstoehr - the picture of the backside of the mask is right side up. The hairs stop where the shoot would have broken ground. The narrow point of the shoot below most of the 'hair' is where the rhizome neck of the culm attached to the rhizome from which it sprang. The hairs be roots man! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

The hairs are roots. An aborted shoot would not be hard enough to carve.

Roots? No way. Why would there be roots all along a growing tip like that? Roots grow only at the internodes, and then only after the "cells" have expanded to their full length. If those were roots then the "cells" could not expand cuz they'd be anchored in place.
Also, it has to be a shoot, either above ground or underground. In fact, looking a bit closer, I'd judge that the top of his pointy little head is close to where the shoot attaches to the "mother" rhizome. Notice how the top cell, and only the top cell, comes to a point, albeit a dull point. This is where it the culm narrows and attaches to the rhizome.
I wouldn't think it would be hard to carve, but I wonder how it wouldn't dry up and shrivel. Trade secret maybe.

This is the most fun I've ever had on garden-web. *8^)

I still think that you're looking at it upside down, ground level is at his eyebrows and the pointy little head is a culm that has broken ground this is a mature carved culm, not a shoot, the rhizome neck is at the bottom where it narrows and curves. A technique to stunt the culm height was employed, such as peeling off culm leaves and that is why the cells remain. Dang, I'm starting to believe myself....

The roots look something like this
{{gwi:413909}}

Bill

hoosier - I think you're wrong, the picture of the back is upside-down. The thickest part of the culm is always at the bottom. Except for the neck which has been removed.
And how could there be 8 cells left underground?
Also notice the hairs are flat and ribbon-like. Not rounded and spaghetti-like as a root would be, like the picture above.
Am I the only sane person here? Or the only nut?

Well, here's my sketch of what I imagine the culm neck would have looked like before cutting.
{{gwi:413911}}
If it is a clumper as Hoosier says then it could look something like this. If it's a runner then there would be a rhizome attached near the bottom where it narrows. Only a guess on my part tho.

Thuja, that's a pretty good drawing, if you work on it a bit (could you please curve the rhizome neck a bit more) I might be happy to trade for your artists rendition of the monk, to heck with the carving, go ahead and trade it to Phil :)

I don't know... tcst... overlay Hollenbacks' photo on Thujas' drawing and it starts to look pretty familar...

tcstoehr,

Actually, that is a typical pachymorph rhizome. The internodes are naturally close together and the roots come out at each one.

Hoosier,
No need to stunt it. Grows naturally that way. The part where it attaches to the mother rhizome was cut off. In the picture above you would cut vertically down the middle and throw away the right side and keep the left. It would appear to narrow even if it wasn't because you get a smaller and smaller section of each node. Plus I don't think the monk was from a clum that dove down first like my picture.

Yes, I agree that the narrow,curving part at the bottom is where the culm was divided from the 'mother', the only reason that I am wondering if the culm was stunted is the existence of the 'cells' that appear as un-elongated nodes, but perhaps clumpers always appear like this in cross section, me don't know about that.

Don't know what you mean about your first picture where it dives down????

I decided to settle this once and for all. My next-door neighbor, Mr. Sing, grew up in China in an area know for producing the finest bamboo monks. I asked him if the monk is upside down or right side up. Here is his response:

When hard rain fall, and cold wind blow...
Monk keep his chin up, but bow his head low.

See? The chin is up and the head down. Indisputable proof. What more could you ask for? I'm glad this is settled. Kudos to me.

Allright tcst, now I walk in your moccasins...(would you mind using a little footpowder please?) I agree, your neighbor has settled the whole matter, and I must confess that I hadn't even considered how hard rain & cold wind could indeed make ones roots grow upside down. I'm walking away from the matter now, humble in my error...

This website of a bamboo seller in NJ has a rhizome monk on the main page.
{{gwi:413913}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Visit here for full size ...www.idigbamboo.com

tcstoehr,

I noticed the shade of your eyes is turning and it's starting to come out your ears. I suggest you save it to fertilze your bamboo.

Sounds like when my dad used to say "That's an old indian trick", like it was something he learned from an old Indian. Usually for some carpentry trick that involved modern tools.

Most honorably,
The Mac Daddy

Oh-oh - I think I'm in trouble, the GW staff emailed me about the slow gardenweb post (stop it you bad dog) and now it has disappeared from the list. My posting future may be in jeopardy...goodby cruel, cruel, world...see you on boopeople....

Big brother is watching. Rhizome Monk can only say:

When hard rain fall, and cold wind blow...
Monk keep his chin up, but bow his head low.