A bamboo flowering event has started in New Zealand and is making its way to Dunedin.
Bamboo typically flowers very infrequently, with intervals between flowering events ranging from decades to over a century depending on the species. Many bamboo species only flower once in their lifetime, and all plants of the same species, regardless of location, will flower around the same time, often resulting in the death of the plant after flowering.
In the wild, a bamboo flowering event can cause mass dieback that can affect large areas and disrupt ecosystems.
While the phenomenon of bamboo flowering and dieback is not fully understood, it is believed that dieback may be a way to conserve resources and ensure the survival of the next generation of plants by eliminating competition from the parent plants.
The Bambusa textilis growing in the Lister Garden were all planted more or less at the same time and are at an age where they could flower. To counter the potential for mass dieback when flowering starts, Botanic Garden staff will be cutting some of the bamboo in the area to the ground, removing unwanted clumps and introducing more bamboo species to give more variety for people to appreciate and lessen likelihood of mass dieback in future flowering events.
