PlantFiles: Giant Thorny Bamboo
Bambusa bambos

I do like this plant, but you have to do some heavy pruning if you plan on getting close to it. It gets very long, wiry lower branches that have very sharp thorns. I trim all nodal branches off the first six feet of the culms. This allows me to walk right up to and under the plant. The nodes will continue to put out branches and I break them off as soon as they start. Once you get the initial trimming done, the maintenance is easy. As new culms come up I break the lower branches off as soon as they start.

This bamboo gets very tall, large diameter culms and grows quickly once established. With the lower culms stripped bare and the dense, leafy branches up high, you can have a most impressive bamboo.

I am probably the only person around that actually likes this plant. It has huge nasty thorns on it that can be from 1 inch to 10 feet(no kidding) long. But that's what saws are for and if you cut them off they don't grow back. One the positive side it is the only bamboo that has jet black shoots that turn a green black color as they mature. It is the largest member of the genus bambusa (not to be confused with the family Bamboo which D. giganteus is the largest of all). It can actually grow up then sideways then up again. It's canes are extremely heavy and hard which is interesting as well. It does come up for sale from time to time, cheap, bandaides not included. There are two large ones growing in Southern California at Quail Botanical gardens in Encinitas if you wanted to see one up close and pesonal but watch out!