Black bamboo

Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) is a running, woody bamboo of the Poaceae, native to China and widely cultivated as an ornamental. It forms erect, hollow, jointed culms that emerge green and mature to a glossy brownish-black, reaching several metres tall and arising from spreading underground rhizomes. The culms are slender, with a prominent groove (sulcus) above each branch node, and bear lance-shaped, evergreen leaves on the branches. Like most bamboos it flowers only at long, irregular intervals. The species spreads vigorously by rhizome and is grown both as a garden plant and as a source of cane; in China it is a traditional medicinal bamboo.