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Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonso-Karr' (Alphonse Karr Bamboo) - A dense, clumping bamboo that grows to 25-35 feet with stems that are 1 inch in diameter. Branches at culm nodes from base to the top. New culms have a pink cast and with age they and side branches are striped green on yellow.
Plant in full sun to light shade and water regularly to occasionally. It is cold hardy to 12 degrees F. It is one of most attractive and useful of the bamboos for a screen or hedge planting.
Bambusa multiplex ranges from Nepal to Taiwan where it grows in the wet tropical biome. The name for the genus comes from the Dutch word 'bamboes' or 'bamboo' that was a modification of Malay word 'bambu' and the specific epithet means "many folds" or "of many parts", presumably in reference to the many small leaves. This cultivar of Bambusa multiplex was first described as Bambusa alphonso-karrii' in 1896 in The Bamboo Garden (A.B. Mitford, The Bamboo Garden, Macmillian & Co., London and New York ). It has also been known as Bambusa 'Alphonse Karri', Bambusa nana var. normalis f. alphonso-karrii, Bambusa nana f. alphonso-karrii, Bambusa multiplex var. normalis f. alphonso-karrii, Leleba multiplex f. alphonse karri, Bambusa glaucescens 'Alphonse Karr Young' and Bambusa glaucescens 'Alphons Karr'. The valid name as described in The Bamboos of the World, ( Orhnberger, D, Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, 1999) is Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonso-Karrii' with the common name listed as Alphonse Karr Bamboo. Who was Alphonse Karr - It might be best to find the 1886 publication to verify this but in The Book of Bamboo (Farrelly, David, The Book of Bamboo, Sierra Club Books, 1984.) it is noted that the name Alphonse Karr Young honors a 19th century French botanist-novelist.
This information about Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonso-Karr' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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