Fargesia yunnanensis

Fargesia yunnanensis (Synonym: Borinda yunnanensis) is a highly attractive and vigorous yet non-running bamboo from Yunnan where it is found at high altitude on hilly slopes and in mountainous broad-leaved and coniferous forest, experiencing cool wet conditions, cloud cover and occasional frost and snow. It has been introduced into other regions of China including Sichuan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei. Its leaves are similar to Borinda fungosa, being highly ornamental and rather delicate and a bright green in colour. Young foliage has delicate hair-like cilia at the nodes. It forms a clustering caepitose clump of tall strong greenish culms with straw-coloured culm sheaths that remain on the nodes for a long time and are often striped with attractive puplish-pink vertical lines. 

Although tolerating moderate cold in its native terrain it is not fully hardy in some parts of the the UK and northern Europe and will withstand subzero temperatures down to about -10C. Its foliage gets frost scorched at these temperatures but the plant withstands the ordeal and grows again from the rhizomes in the spring. Chinese growers claim to grow this species down to -20C... we haven't tried that yet! It is a wise precaution to plant this beautiful species in a sheltered position, mulch well and be prepared to provide extra protection when temperatures drop much further than about -5C.

The use of the genus Borinda is still not taxonomically resolved and like Borinda fungosa this species is currently classified as Fargesia yunnanensis.

Leaves from this species form part of the bamboo diet of the Giant Panda.