Height: 6 metres or more

This giant of a bamboo certainly lives up to its species name, growing speedily to twice the height of its relative, Chusquea culeou. The upright, solid canes, which are green when young and warm yellow when mature, can reach 5 centimetres in diameter and are spaced about 30 centimetres apart. The plant, with its thick blue-green leaves, has a softer, more open appearance than some of the genus. The rhizomes go much deeper than those of most bamboos, making it suitable for a dry site in sun or shade (although not in deep, unrelieved gloom). A solitary specimen of this towering clumper will confer a special cachet to the garden. And if you have the space, a few plants will quickly make an exotic grove.