Japan fears rare appearance of bamboo flowers

According to the lead author of the study, Toshihiro Yamada, bamboo loses seed viability after flowering. In the lab, all shoots died with no signs of regeneration through seeds, new stems or dwarf shoots.

These results portend a bleak future for Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis in Japan: recovery of the species after re-flowering may prove extremely difficult. This, in turn, will lead to radical changes in vegetation and soil composition.