Monocarpic plants set seed only once and then die.  Bamboo is of this kind, but they have very long lives.  We have a lovely clumping bamboo (Fargesia), i.e. it’s not invasive.  It currently has has an abundant crop of seed.  So this is the end.   Or is it?  I think it’s over.

The cultivar we have is Fargesia nitida, which features a pretty dark purple cane.  It was brought out of China by a Russian collector in the 1880s, and presumably all the plants like ours have been cloned from that one.  They are all setting seed these days, that started a few years ago.   It would seem that the setting of seeds in the Bamboo is a somewhat synchronized event, worldwide.  You can already buy new plants grown from the seeds; though only time will tell exactly how those will behave.

That this only happens every 100+ years makes me curious if it would be possible to brew a craft beer from the abundant grain harvest.

Fargesia