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Himalayacalamus falconeri 'Damarapa' (Candy-Stripe Bamboo) - A beautiful clump-forming bamboo to 20- 30 feet tall (20' in S. California) with feathery leaves borne on long, slender branchlets on culms by up to 2 inches wide that are a random color combination of green, striped with yellow or lavender-pink.
Plant in part sun or bright indirect light but no hot afternoon sun and canes lack red color in deep shade. Is best is a mild climate that does not get significantly below freezing in the winter, though is cold hardy to 15 to 20° F. This beautiful bamboo can be particularly nice in cool climates that do not get hard frosts, such as in coastal central and northern California.
Himalayacalamus falconeri is in a fairly recently erected genus and this plant was previously listed confusingly as Drepanostachyum hookerianum since this name confuses it with the Blue Bamboo, Himalayacalamus hookerianus, previously known as Drepanostachyum falcatum. The name for the genus combines the regional reference to the Himalayas with the Greek word 'kalamus' meaning "reed" in reference to the plants in the genus coming from lower altitudes of the Himalaya in Bhutan, Tibet, India, and Nepal. The specific epithet honors the Scottish born Indian physician and botanist Hugh Falconer (1808–1865) and the cultivar name 'Damarapa' was given to this plant by the French botanist Jean Pierre Demoly in 1991. It has also been commonly called the Candy Cane Bamboo. We started selling this plant in 2002 but felt it better suited to cooler climates so stopped offering it in 2010, though still have a plant in the nursery garden.
The information about Himalayacalamus falconeri 'Damarapa' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
Please note that after 46 years in business, San Marcos Growers will be discontinuing nursery operations by the end of 2025 and the property will be developed for affordable housing.
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