Ruth is responsible for today's entry. Ruth writes:
My mother, Melinde Sanborn, took this stunning shot of a beached monocot species. Thanks mom!
Although we are not certain of its identity, we believe this to be a species of Dendrocalamus. The pachymorph rhizomes combined with large culms are the best clues. Dendrocalamus is a genus of giant clumping bamboo native to Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It's not uncommon to find members of this genus cultivated in Hawaii, Central America or the West Indies, where different species are variously used for buckets, rafts, edible shoots, construction or charcoal. It is also cultivated as an ornamental in mild parts of North America: Quail Botanical Gardens of Encinitas, California has a few species in their collection. As Dendrocalamus are a clumping type of bamboo, they are less of a nightmare (just less) in the garden. Due to their size, they are not recommended for a small to medium spaces unless regular maintenance is possible.
beautiful! monocot…reminds me of the Biology test I need to be doing…
Where is it beached? How can you tell from just this much that it's a monocot? At first I thought it was part of a petrified octopus, or an elephant's jawbone... What a cool mom you have, Ruth!
Every photo that is posted here evokes a response from me. I usually do not comment because so many others do - and they say it for me.
This photo, however, requires a, "What in the world?" even from a lurker.
Way cool what ever it is.
bamboo web has this plant
and good photos even from florida
where i live.
thank you ruths mom
Three things:
1) Great picture!, but then I am partial to sea-wrack-on-the-beach pics.
2)Always happy to see a reference to Quail Gardens. It's one of Encinitas' claims to fame, along with its beaches (and associated surf culture), the Self-Realization Fellowship (a.k.a. Swami's), and the flower fields (though there are fewer of these every year).
3) I thought the bamboos had been split away from the rest of the grasses. Did I imagine that, or have they been re-lumped into Poaceae?
Here's a photo of the bamboo in Quail Botanical Gardens, that I took last December... very impressive.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i29/jaro_in_Montreal/QuailGardensbambooplantation22-XII-.jpg
Eric, Angiosperm Phylogeny Group lists it as the Poaceae.