''Fargesia dracocephala'' is a woody

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

native to central China. It is known in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

as ''longtou jianzhu'' (), meaning ''dragon head Fargesia''. The scientific name is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and has the same meaning. It is found at high elevations in the south of Gansu, western

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

, southern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

and northern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

. The plant is a significant source of food for the giant panda. There is a bamboo cultivated in the west sold under the same name, but it is actually a recently described species, namely '' Fargesia apicirubens''. Confusingly, the most common cultivar of ''F. dracocephala'' is sometimes sold in the west under the name '' Fargesia rufa'', which is a different species. When properly designated, it appears as ''Fargesia'' 'Rufa'.

References

dracocephala Flora of China {{Bamboo-stub