Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Most people associate bamboo with Asia - particularly China where some species famously serve as panda bear food - but Mexico is also rich in bamboos with dozens of native species. One of these, Chusquea liebmannii E. Fournier (known locally as carricillo), only blooms once every 30 to 40 years.

Right now happens to be one of these special moments. Even when it's not in bloom, this plant is easy to identify by the root thorns that extend out from its nodes. Another noteworthy characteristic of this plant is that it is one of only a couple of bamboos in the world that is not hollow.

We learned more about this plant during the recent visit of a pair of botanists, Dany Ramos (San Diego Zoo) and Dr. Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez (University of Guadalajara) who visited us during their research sojourn throughout the republipreceding their participation in the World Bamboo Congress in Xalapa, Veracruz.

They were delighted to see plenty of Chusquea liebmannii blooming in the Garden's forest preserve and worked with the VBG's biologist and volunteers to prepare herbarium specimens to take back to their respective institutions. We at the Garden are always happy to help expand scientific knowledge about our natural world.