Regal, upright, and elegant, Japanese Timber Bamboo is a classic species and a beautiful addition to any Asian-style garden. For ornamental purposes or for building material, Phyllostachys bambusoides has poles that are long, straight, and strong. A grove of this temperate species can form a magical forest or a stately privacy screen.

Phyllostachys bambusoides, also called Madake or Japanese Timber Bamboo, is a large species of running bamboo native to China and Japan. In ideal conditions, mature poles can grow 50 to 70 feet tall, and 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Culms and leaves have a rich green color, and the straight, towering stalks have a very majestic appearance. Plants are evergreen and cold-hardy, and they grow well in most temperate climates.

This article is part of an ongoing series about different varieties of bamboo. To learn more, be sure to check out our Complete Guide to Growing Bamboo and our comprehensive Directory of Bamboo Species. You may find these other timber species especially interesting.

• Guadua angustifolia: Bamboo of Colombia
• Dendrocalamus giganteus: Giant Bamboo
• Bambusa oldhamii: Chinese Timber Bamboo

NOTE: This entry first appeared in 2022, most recently updated in May 2026.

Bamboo in Japan

Quick Facts about Phyllostachys bambusoides

• Scientific name: Phyllostachys bambusoides
• Common names: Japanese Timber Bamboo, Madake
• Growth habit: Running bamboo
• Native range: China and Japan
• Climate: Temperate
• Cold hardiness: Approximately -5 to -10°F (-20 to -23°C)
• Height: 50–70 feet
• Culm diameter: 4–5 inches
• Culm characteristics: Tall, straight, green culms aging to yellow; relatively thin-walled for a timber bamboo
• Light requirements: Full sun to partial shade
• Water needs: Moderate; prefers regular moisture and good drainage
• Primary uses: Ornamental groves, privacy screens, crafts, musical instruments, decorative building material
• Edible shoots: Yes, though somewhat bitter compared to Moso
• Special characteristics: Extremely fast growth, elegant upright form
• Maintenance notes: Requires rhizome containment in most landscape settings

Characteristics of Japanese Timber Bamboo

Growth Habit

Like other members of the genus Phyllostachys, P. bambusoides is a running bamboo with monopodial rhizomes. Groves of this bamboo variety tend to spread and expand. Therefore, it’s important to have some kind of containment strategy if you’re going to plant this in your garden.

Climate and Cold-Hardiness

P. bambusoides is also very cold-hardy, like other runners. Like most kinds of Phyllostachys, they can tolerate winter temperatures as low as -5 or -10º F. Colder weather will likely cause frost damage to leaves and canes. But even so, the roots will probably survive, and fresh growth should reappear in the spring.

Size and Appearance

Japanese Timber Bamboo is one of the largest species of temperate or running bamboo. Comparable in size to Moso or Vivax, healthy specimens can easily exceed 50 or 60 feet in height. Culms can reach 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Younger canes may have more of a yellow color, but with age, they will turn a deep green. The lowest 8 to 12 feet of the poles tend to be bare and smooth, with dense, green foliage beginning around a quarter of the way up.

With its impressive size, vibrant color, elegant culms, and lush foliage, few bamboo species are more effective than Madake at creating a traditional Japanese garden aesthetic.

Growth Rate and Flowering Cycles

Similar to Moso and other timber bamboo varieties, Madake has an astonishing growth rate. At the peak of the growing season, new shoots can grow up to 3 feet a day. This makes it one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet.

Flowering periods, by contrast, are among the longest of any bamboo species, going as long as 120 years between flowering events.

A word about bamboo naming

To avoid confusion, it’s best to refer to a bamboo species by its scientific name, using the genus and species. This is also known as binomial nomenclature. But even this method is imperfect, because sometimes the species get reclassified, moved from one genus to another, or renamed, like when Phyllostachys pubescens became P. edulis (aka Moso).

However, scientific names aren’t always easy to remember or pronounce, so most growers refer to this variety as Japanese Timber Bamboo. In fact, it’s probably more native to China than Japan. In any case, it is widely cultivated in Japan, where they call it Madake. If you’re not sure how to pronounce that, think of the pronunciation of Karate, and that should help.

Uses for Phyllostachys bambusoides

Japanese Timber Bamboo is an excellent choice for a large ornamental species, as it makes a powerful impression. It also grows much more easily than Moso, and has more elegance than Vivax. It does especially well in the mild, moist climate of the Pacific Northwest.

The size and straightness of Madake poles make them useful for certain crafts and building applications. Therefore, it has good potential for bamboo farming. But the walls of this bamboo species are a bit too thin to be used for serious construction purposes, compared to Henon, for example. Even so, they can be used for decorative purposes to great effect. As the canes dry, they will turn from green to yellow. But the length and straightness are what lend the greatest aesthetic value.

Among other light crafts, traditional Shakhari flutes are commonly made from Madake bamboo. For this purpose, it’s necessary to harvest small poles from younger plants. These have thinner walls, and of course, narrower diameters.

The young shoots are considered edible, but bitter in taste. They are not as high-quality and delicious as species like Moso and Henon. If you’re gathering them yourself, always be sure to boil your bamboo shoots before eating, to remove any natural toxins.

Further reading

If you’re fascinated by the many species and uses of bamboo and wish to learn more, then you’ve come to the right place. Bambu Batu has a wealth of in-depth articles about this miraculous grass.

• Introducing bamboo: Genus by genus
• How to make a profit with bamboo
• Bamboo seeds
• Bamboo myths and misnomers