The short answer is "no." The number of branches per node is a function that's fixed by species, not age. For example, the Phyllostachys species generally have two branches, regardless of age. Besides, if I take a division of a bamboo that I planted 10 years ago, and the one I planted 10 years ago was from another division, etc., how old is the most recent division? Also, some bamboo do better in some locations than others, so size is not a sure indication either, although younger plants are obviously smaller versions of what they will become when mature. If I grow a bamboo from a seed (a rare event), I guess I could say that it was X years old, but there would be no way to judge how old just on appearance. There are some bamboo that exhibit the characteristic of large juvenile leaves, so you can tell that that clump is only a couple of years old. But generally, there's no direct way to date a bamboo.

Another words unless you mark every shoot as they shoot up from the ground you won't be able to tell how old they are later in live? In an unfamiliar grove I can distinguish the older culms from the younger ones but how can I tell how much older is one from the other?

You can't. There's no way to tell.

There may be a way to estimate the age of a grove that has turned into a forest, based on the spread of the grove from year to year. How many years would it take for a 5 gallon plant to cover an acre, if you had it in the ground for a few years and therefore knew it's spreading rate?

Some bamboo have never been recorded in flower, the age of these are impossible to determine, a small division is the same age as the 100 acre forest it was taken from. Unless you can trace back to the seedling, it's impossible to tell.

I didn't mean to ask the age of a grove. I do mean to ask how to tell(guess) a "never-been-seen-before" culm's age from the time it shot up from the ground.

That's the thing about forums. They generate discussion and sometimes veer into something you didn't ask about.

There is a way to tell the age of a bamboo culm by examining the ramification of the branches. The first year they put out the primary branching, the second year they sprout the secondary branching, and then the tertiary branching, and so on. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so have a look:

{{gwi:419450}}

I drew this illustration a couple of years ago, and after looking at my moso today, it looks like the second drawing should actually be year 1 and the third should be year 2, but hopefully youll get the idea.

-christian m.

Great drawings!!

Therefore what I said in my original question/statement do have some creditibility. And yes, my litlle first year madake look more like the year 2 drawing than year one. I'll send a photo later.

didgeridoo-
With all due respect, that's not been my experience. For example, I have several moso, and the shoots from this spring on one of my plants look like your third year drawing. On the other hand, I have some two year old moso seedlings that are really healthy, but they have yet to ramify. There are a number of my other Phyllostachys that I looked at, and there are some culms from this spring that have the same ramification pattern as 5-year old culms in the same clump.

I agree that older culms can put out more foliage and branches, but I don't think there's a pattern there that allows one to make an age determination. I've also seen variations in amount of branching in two plants of similar age that are near one another, but get different amounts of light.

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I'm not convinced. I'd be be interested to hear from others on their experiences, and how it compares to yours and mine.

Interesting topic. So now I am going to need to go outside and look at branches and twigs. One thing that complicates matters is that (with Phyllostachys anyway) leaves are shed once a year (spring) and replaced. New twigs emerge and the old ones drop off. It seems like this would leave the branches looking very much the same from year to year.

I guess you could try looking for evidence of "twig" scars.

Your right, it isnt as cut and dry as it looks in the illustration, but if you examine the branch structure carefully you should find where a new branches have emerged from the side of a node on an old branch. Often times the rest of the original branch will die back to the point of the new growth. Ive scanned some photos of my black bamboo branches for examples...not sure if it will clear things up or confuse them more, but here they are anyway:

1 year Ph. nigra branch:
{{gwi:419451}}

3 year Ph. nigra branch:
{{gwi:419452}}

5+ year Ph. nigra branch:
{{gwi:419454}}

close up showing side shoots
{{gwi:419456}}

-christian m.

Reminds me of "spur" branches which occur on some trees. Great illustration and pix. Thanks, now another reason I wish my bamboo didn't die to the ground every year. :)

Yep, as you can see the branches get pretty gnarley looking after a number of years. Those are the best ones to make bamboo brooms with.

If you are looking for the age of a bamboo to determine whether it is proper age for harvesting, counting the branches is generally not feasable because they are generally to high up in the canopy. Sometimes you can shake the culm and see that the branches are very dense and that is a good indicator of an older culm. Usually i find the dirtiest and most faded culms which are probably the oldest in the grove.

I learned this from a very knowledgeable bambusero who showed me this trait on Ph. n. Henon branches and i have also corroborated it with my Ph. nigra. I was told that this works for most bamboos, but not all.

Hope this helps,
christian

Very nice trick there. I still have a little trouble reading the tea leaves tho. Here's a 1st year Bisset branch.
{{gwi:419458}}
That's pretty straight forward. Now here's a branch that I know is at least 3 or more years old:
{{gwi:419460}}
Looking at it I see maybe 5 years growth. This could be correct since I had this as a houseplant before I planted it outside 3 years ago.

very interesting posts..thank you kudzu and christian....
all bamboo is the off shoot of the mother plant...there is no way to tell how old the plant is..the plant you have imho the only true way to know is mark it somehow..as there are many varibles

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Do you tell me lifetime(LIVE AGE)
of BAMBOO?

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