Keyed Out #095 — Phyllostachys nigra

Question 1

The stem is a hollow tube closed by a solid plate at every joint, and each leaf wraps it in a tube split down one side, with a small flap standing at the junction where the blade bends away.

Accepted Answer

grass family

Question 2

Each tiny flower has no petals at all, sitting naked between two dry scales with three dangling {stamens} and two feathery stigmas, several packed into a unit behind a pair of empty scales.

Accepted Answer

Poaceae

Question 3

Above each joint the stem is flattened into a shallow groove that runs the length of the {internode} and swaps from one side to the other at the next joint, rather than staying evenly round all the way up.

Accepted Answer

Phyllostachys

Question 4

Exactly two branches leave each joint, one clearly stouter than the other, instead of three or more spreading together from the same point.

Accepted Answer

Phyllostachys

Question 5

Canes emerge olive green, mottle over with brown-black through their first year, and ripen to a polished near-black by their second or third, rather than staying green or yellow-green for life.

Accepted Answer

Phyllostachys nigra

Question 6

Mature canes stay slender at about 2 inches (5 cm) thick on stems 15 to 25 feet (4.6 to 8 m) tall, not the heavy timber poles of 4 inches (10 cm) and more that carry a grove twice that height.

Accepted Answer

Phyllostachys nigra