Chusquea Coronalis
"Costa Rica Weeping Bamboo"

I am an exotic bamboo found from Mexico to Costa Rica with 3/4" culms that arch to the ground. Slender branchlets grow in whorls around my culm nodes with pom-pom-like bunches of very small light green leaves. Many people regard me as the most beautiful bamboo in the world. Many average home-owners who know nothing about bamboo but who accidentally show up at a Bamboo sale will invariably end up standing in front of this plant, asking how much it is & insisting they must have it. Many will not even be able to identify me as a bamboo at all!

I am a somewhat tender (20 - 25 ° F) sub-tropical bamboo, best planted in light shade (full sun along coast). My narrow dark culms have whorls of branches at the internodes which appear as crowns, giving me the specific ephitet coronalis (from Latin "corona" meaning crown). These whorls of branches allows my culms to catch in tree branches so that I can literally climb higher through a canopy.

My natural habitat is from 2,000-6,000 feet in cloud forests, river valleys and slopes of Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatamala. In 1994, I flowered, producing enough seed to make a bamboo that was quite rare in cultivation into a plant that can now be found in most nurseries.

I am a slow-growing clump forming bamboo. I have gracefully arching culms to 15 feet tall. The tendency of my culms is to arch back to the ground which creates a fluffy, soft appearance. Protect me from frosts (Hardy to 28 degrees F.) and extreme heat or reflected sun. I am a wonderful specimen for containers, especially around a pond or water feature. It is not unusual for me to look a bit chlorotic through the winter months. A good dose of fertilizer in the early spring will green me up quickly. Native to Sinaloa, Colima, Chiapas in Mexico and south through Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica.