MOST Edible Bamboo?

A few years ago (and my memory might be fabricating this) I swore I had read about a type of bamboo that was completely edible; not just the shoots.

The inner flesh was meaty at massive sizes and it could be chopped up & added to a stir-fry, chop-bing-bang-sizzle…

Anybody familiar with this type of bamboo?

Any recommendations on the “most”-edible or (in your opinion) most delicious bamboo species would also be appreciated…

and my preference would be a clumping type, but if you talk-up the tastiness enough I could probably be convinced to install a pond-liner & concrete barrier 😁 🌱  

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Phyllostachys+aurea


I believe this is the one you're remembering

Daniel Sillito wrote:https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Phyllostachys+aurea


I believe this is the one you're remembering

😂 Here I was expecting crickets and you supermanned the answer in under two minutes, today is a great day!!!

happy to help! I have a google doc with all my favourite species for the future homestead and I knew immediately which species you meant, hence the quick reply

Don't tell me I need *another* bamboo variety!

I have P. dulcis which grows well, tall, is beautiful and great for building projects, but only the shoots are edible and only if my geese don't get to them before I do!

Too many of the local plants don't have botanical names attached, so do be sure of the identity!

How about a culinary bamboo tolerant
of cold winters?

Thekla McDaniels wrote:How about a culinary bamboo tolerant
of cold winters?

My P. dulcis bamboo survives below 0C and has coped with our wet snow. It doesn't grow as large in diameter as it might in a warmer climate, but I have eaten it in the spring.

I had a bamboo nursery for 25 years, until a quadrupal sh*t storm struck and I changed my entire life. Most Edible bamboo: One that will grow in your climate AND does not have shoots that are nasty tasting. If you are in a mild enough climate (mainly subtropical) you will be able to grow at least the hardiest bamboos of the Bambusa genus. Otherwise, if you are in Cascadia/BC and have irrigation potential to substitute for summer rainfall, the Phyllostachys genus has a bunch that get big and taste pretty good. The hardiest of that genus that gets big enough to make harvest worthwhile is P. aureosulcata with frequent zig-zag canes and a variety of color forms, the type having a yellow sulcus: the flat stretch of internode above a pair of branches. If you are in a rainy summer climate, like Japan/China, you can let'em rip. That's where most of the hardy bamboos are from. (with the exception of Canebrake bamboo, which is an Eastern US species) With good soil, a humid climate (or a high water table) and no #!!% big rodents, the bamboo will grow. Unfortunately sandy soil makes for sandy bamboo shoots=more care in washing them before cooking. In the Willamette, with irrigation water in the summer, I can grow shoots that can often be 2" in diameter, max @ 3 or so: the general size of say, an anti-aircraft gun round (and likewise pointy on the top end.) The milder the winter the more varieties you can grow. None of the smaller (but hardier) clumping bamboos from Szechwan and nearby are big enough to bother with for shoots. For some reason, the best tasting shoots are not necessarialy from the best pole varieties by any means. And most all bamboo shoots must be cooked, unless you're a panda.
IF you are in at least the mild sub-tropics, you can grow some great clumping bamboos that have BIG, tasty shoots. If your climate is say, like Indonesia, you can even have good poles for building and eat the shoots too. Depending on variety, and your soil type there will be choices. Here in the Willamette, the primary pole species are the various color forms of P. nigra, which, naturally, comes in black, green, green with brown mottling, green with brown stripes (which sometimes puts up stems that are half-black, half green) The hardiest Phyllostachys aureosulcata, which has many color forms and frequent zig-zag stems- very ornamental and tasty too, but the stems are not super-strong, and being rough to the touch they are quick to get really smutty mildew in the rainy season. (I could see making a really cool room divider for an oriental restaurant with them) As I have never had a large, heated conservatory,  I can't suggest tropical species, but if , say, you're in Bali, you are in BIG LUCK. Yummy sweet bamboo shoots the size of a destroyer round! With a long harvest season! Never been to Bali myself, I can't thrive in the tropics. Most of my ancestors sailed the North sea in open boats: the Willamette is about as tropical as I can get.

Well- seems like I made it past my fatigue at being the "Bamboo Guru" (it's been years I just couldn't) If there are more questions I'll be able to take them on. Questions like "can I plant bamboo in my pasture for the horses?" I hope he didn't try it. (I don't mean to have this posted, I am just a bit surprised with what I just dropped for 3+ hours)

Daniel Sillito wrote:happy to help! I have a google doc with all my favourite species for the future homestead and I knew immediately which species you meant, hence the quick reply

Can you share the rest of your favorites?

Most edible bamboo? I covered that one pretty good for N. America., I thought. There's some differences in taste. between species, but not as much as between fresh bamboo shoots and not-so fresh. What are my other favorite bamboos?  I did go into some of the color variations as well. Being that one person interested was in Tennesee and did not know canebrake bamboo- well there's native bamboo in the S. Appalachians as well, which has a living tradition of Native American basketry. If any of that sounds  interesting you might look into it (politely) Not all of the Cherokee were marched off to Oklahoma, some remain in N. Georgia and still have bamboo.

Other uses of bamboo: fences: Japanese bamboo fence traditions are shown in plenty of "coffee table" books. The Japanese tea house tradition is likewise well-covered in many flashy foto coffee table books.
I think I mentioned briefly the bundled bamboo domes I have made: I used the pattern of the rods that support a dome tent, but larger by several orders of magnitude. When I did a big one for a festival, I added a "visor" over the front, so
'. the site crew was able to add a rain tarp over the musician's area, and quite a few lights . It held up well for the entire long weekend. all the lashing were binder twine, or light sisal rope. It's fun to take a pickup load of bamboo canes and build something that size, light enough to raise up with people power, and have it for the center stage for of a crowd of thousands.
Another possibility would be teaching kids to build shelters they could use for camping, although there might be problems with bug proofing the shelters. Safety around cutting tools would be crucial as well.
I have envisioned an outhouse system with a trench-spanning hut, and rapidly back-filled and moved down the line, so as to not depend on depth for capacity, and have things all in the more active levels of the soil. That one I've never tried.