I recently acquired an interesting plant which appears to be some variety of bamboo. The mature plants are stalks of 4-5' in height, and I'm told it self-propagates. I was led to believe it may be called donkey tail bamboo, but my research doesn't seem to bear this out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks -- Bill
It looks like Horsetail - Equisetum spp - which is not a bamboo at all, although the cane structure is similar. I'd expect it to put out tufts of fibrous leaves at each node point when the cane height is correct. Compare
If you don't want a patch of indefinite spread you will have to curb its roots with a container or barrier.
Ron, is this true even though it appears to be an Equisetum, not a bamboo? The rushes I'm familiar with would not likely spread so fast except in very moist soil, such as a water's edge planting. They might not even grow too well in a drier situation. I'm a long way from Alabama, though. Maybe everything spreads in that climate.
