QIONGZHUEA tumidinoda. Western China. A most unusual bamboo, perhaps not quite at home here but worth fussing over a bit. It might be described as “loosely clumping”, for it spreads slowly to make small thickets. The stems rise to a height of 8-20’ and are up to an inch in diameter. Their striking feature is their much-expanded, disk-like nodes. They have been used for many years in China as ornamental walking sticks. There are three branches at each node, with narrow, pointed, deep green leaves. The upper surface of each leaf is attractively shiny. An unfortunate trait, even in our mild climate on the coast, is that the leaves die back a little way from the tips and look bedraggled until the spring flush of new growth. However, the plants are reputedly hardy to 10oF. or less.