Height: up to 12 m

Common Name: Green Sulphur Bamboo

This is one of the largest of the Phyllostachys group - and also one of the fastest growing. In balmy Cornwall, six inches of growth has been recorded overnight, whereas in Algiers 20 inches was measured in just 24 hours. And strangely, this bamboo grows most during the night, rather than in daytime. The green culms - which may ripen to gold in the sun - bear masses of dense, green foliage. A sheltered position is best for this potential giant, and although it has a running rootstock, its progress is at a slow walking pace except in extremely warm areas. We grow it as an imposing solitary specimen, but it makes a fabulously exotic grove if you can give it the space.