Fargesia dracocephala is a woody bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

 native to central China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It is known in Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 as longtou jianzhu , meaning dragon head Fargesia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

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

Gansu

' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...

, western Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

, southern Shaanxi

Shaanxi

' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...

 and northern Sichuan

Sichuan

' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

. The plant is a significant source of food for the giant panda

Giant Panda

The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

.

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

Fargesia rufa

Fargesia rufa is a woody bamboo native to western China. It is known in Chinese as qingchuan jianzhu , meaning "Qingchuan Fargesia", Qingchuan being a county within the prefecture-level city of Guangyuan in the north of Sichuan. It is found at high elevations in the north of this province as well...

, which is a different species. When properly designated, it appears as Fargesia 'Rufa'

Fargesia 'Rufa'

Fargesia Rufa, sometimes also sold under the name Gansu 95-1 or incorrectly as Fargesia rufa , is a commonly cultivated form of bamboo. Its origin is somewhat mysterious, but morphological evidence seems to suggest that it is a cultivar of Fargesia dracocephala...

.