Identification: A plant I got from Japan

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Zev, May 24, 2006.

  1. Zev

    Zev Member

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    http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33579019/

    This is a plant I got in Tokyo Japan back in July 2004. I got it in a little plant shop in an underground (Literally) shopping center. For the past 2 years I've been trying to find out what it is. Now it’s in a much larger pot and is about as tall as a 6 year old. This is what it looked like when I first got it: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33561899/

    What also boggles and concerns me is that every fall/winter, when it gets colder, the thing seemingly starts to die. The first time I freaked out and tried putting hot water bottles around it. Not smart. The next year I bought a special plant lamp for it and it seemed to do a little better. The reason it doesn't die is because another little shoot pops out of the bottom(The bottom being the spot where that smaller sprout is) and proceeds to grow while the current one withers and dies. I don't know if this is because of the weather or if its a natural thing. The woman at the shop told me that it needed to be indoors, in sunlight and always well watered. All the plants of that kind at the shop were in that little dish filled with water, so I've figured always keep it moist.

    Anyone have idea what it is?
     
  2. Takana_Hana

    Takana_Hana Active Member 10 Years

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    it looks something like a bamboo or horsetail...
     
  3. Zev

    Zev Member

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    I already checked to see if it was Bamboo. Bamboo doesn't grow from giant seeds like this from what I've read.
     
  4. Woodsprite

    Woodsprite Active Member

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    Are you sure it grew from that seed, or was it planted there as a medium since you bought it that way it may have been planted there for affect by the "little plant shop".
    I just came back from vacation in Hawaii, not too long ago, and I was gifted a type of bamboo plant just exactly like the one you show in the picture. It was gifted to my by my son-in-law's grandparents who are third generation Japanese on the Island of Oahu.
    I know that they can be grown very easily from cuttings that can be started in water and rooted there until ready for planting. Like I stated, I'm not sure what type of bamboo it is, but my in-laws assure me it IS a bamboo.
    I hope this helps you.
     
  5. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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  6. Zev

    Zev Member

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    Well I'm very sure it grows FROM the seed since the roots come out from the bottom. It's very firmly in there, I've seen plants put in larger fake wooden coconut type holders to look like their sprouting from them. This plant has a white sticky sap, if that helps at all. I'm starting to wonder if it might be some kind of tree?

    I'm pretty sure its the real deal. But this is the second time someone has mentioned bamboo...
     
  7. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    When you blow up the photo you can plainly see the pinnate venation of the leaves.
     
  8. Zev

    Zev Member

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    The what?
     
  9. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    Sorry Zev, I was referring to the way the leaf veins are in your plant. They're pinnate, meaning that they come out from a central vein like a feather. Therefore it can't be a bamboo or horsetail. Vein patterns and leaf arrangement are some of the things we look for when trying to figure out what a plant is.
     
  10. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    The plant would not annually be resprouting from its own seed, so the large husk is only the medium in which it is growing if that's what you've observed.

    I've no clue to what it might be, though - I'd need flowers or fruit in this case to make an educated guess.
     
  11. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    Was there a reason to discard the Coniogramme japonica in Terrestrial_man's reply? It seems to be very similar to the plant and has a pinnate leaf, albeit the venation is pretty light. That is assuming the pod is just a growth medium container. Harry
     
  12. Zev

    Zev Member

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    While the leaves do look a lot like those pictures he posted, the ones in those search images seem to go off on seperate branches that go off to the side while my plant grows upward and has leaves that grow from all sides.
     
  13. oscar

    oscar Active Member

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    looks like an unusual form of knot weed to me. o.O
     
  14. Woodsprite

    Woodsprite Active Member

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    My Japanese in-laws assure me IT IS a type of bamboo. I have several of the same plant. I would be very interested if someone could confirm or deny any other such information though.
     
  15. oscar

    oscar Active Member

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    arn't bamboos monocots? and that looks like a dicot..........
     
  16. L.plant

    L.plant Active Member

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    Refer to above.
     
  17. Zev

    Zev Member

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    Well if it is bamboo, I'm very curious as to why its so extreamly sensitive to sunlight. I was told to keep it indoors, but in sunlight. Once I took it outside in the sun on a warm day for about an hour or more, and an entire branch of it wilted and died in a few days! It reminds me of Buckeye tree sprouts. I've grown them over the years from their large seeds. If you keep one in direct sun, its a gonner.

    Woodsprite, if you have ones like mine, can you tell me the best way to take care of it? I'm really worried that it might die if I keep on caring for it in the way I am. It doesn't grow anymore new sprouts so if this last part dies, thats the end of it! I really love this plant.
     
  18. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    The problem is that we can't really see a good look at the plant. The guesses (fern, bamboo, knotweed) are all so far from each other that gives you some idea how little detail we can really see in your pics. It's like guessing fish, snake, or beaver for an animal pic.

    Take some detailed, well focused closeups. Show a leaf and the underside of the leaf. Show the top of the plant and how the leaves branch from the stem. Show the old stems and what they look like where they emerge from the soil. Without more solid information to go on, the experts here will just keep guessing.

    And lots of plants die in the full sun, that doesn't mean much. Even cactus (the ultimate full-sun plant!) will get sunburned if it's been in a house all winter and you set it outside in full sun.
     
  19. Zev

    Zev Member

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    Ok, I'll take some close ups of it.
     
  20. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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  21. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    In the mean time here is a list of 30 bamboos found in Japan. Have no idea as to how exhaustive the list is. The one it most resembled to me was Pseudosasa japonica ???, but as I have never grown bamboo of any kind that would be a shot in the dark. The descriptions in the list leave a bit to be desired as I think they are a direct google translation. Culm = hollow grass stem, according to an on-line dictionary. Bamboo is a member of the grass family Poaceae. Here is a photo of Pseudosasa japonica for comparison. If you have the time to spend you might do google image searches on the plant names and see if you find anything that is closer to your plant. This is of course, assuming it actually turns out to be a bamboo and not something else.

    Didn't see Terrestrial-man's post. His entry is also in the list above, but I discounted it because of the description at that link (culm{stem} 3-4mm in diameter). But as I said the descriptions leave a lot to be desired there, and so that well could be the one. That could even be the correct diameter of your plant's stem. :) Harry
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2006
  22. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    Guys, it's not a bamboo. It clearly, clearly, clearly has pinnate venation.
     
  23. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    Ginger Blue,

    I finally took a close look at the first photo and see the venation you are talking about. I didn't see it in the second picture which was what I was mainly working from. Probably either bad focus or lighting that didn't pick it up in the second photo. Well, I guess we'll wait for the closeups and see what comes of them. (I edited this as I had the photos reversed on download) Harry
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2006
  24. Zev

    Zev Member

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  25. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    Could the venation be extreme tesselation in this case as it isn't really evident in the plant when it was purchased (or at least not as prominent as the older photo)? The venation seems to have regular compartments although not as regular as those photos I found illustrating tesselation on line. Probably still trying to hang on to bamboo as a possibility. :) They do say that stubborness runs in my family. But part of it stems from Woodsprite's reply below. Also the fact that it has problems with cold weather seems that to indicate that tesselation would occur if in fact it were bamboo.

    Of course what one calls bamboo might not fit the botanic definition of bamboo, ie Japanese knotweed aka Mexican bamboo.

    Zev, were the stems hollow? Harry
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2006

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