This pretty, slow-growing bamboo, also called fountain bamboo, will gradually form a dense thicket of purple-green canes, each marked with powdery white under the leaf nodes. The canes do not branch until they are in their second year of growth, when the upper part of the stems produces a cluster of purple branchlets.

Narrow, tapering, mid- green leaves are produced in abundance on all sterns. This plant will eventually grow too high to be considered as a long-term houseplant, hut there are dwarf forms available, which are generally labeled miniature bamboo or house bamboo.

Size: Height 6-15 ft. (2-5 m) Dwarf forms from 1 ft (30 cm).

Light: Indirect sunlight.

Temperature: Tolerates a wide range.

Moisture: Keep moist at all times.

Feeding: Give standard liquid fertilizer once a month from spring through to fall.

Propagation: Divide clumps or cut – tings of rhizomes in spring.

Special needs: This is a hardy bamboo in all but the coldest of regions, so it may be planted outdoors once it has outgrown its position inside.