Bamboo is a genus of arborescent grasses (family Gramineae) found chiefly in warm climates. There are many species, the culms are round (rarely square), jointed, sometimes thorny, and hollow or solid with evergreen or deciduous leaves and can grow to 30 metres high and a diameter of 30 cm.
The best-known species is Bamboo arundinacea, common in tropical and sub-tropical regions. From the creeping underground rhizome, which is long, thick, and jointed, spring several round jointed stalks, which send out from their joints several shoots, the stalks also being armed at their joints with one or two sharp rigid spines. The oval leaves, about 20 cm long, are placed on short footstalks. The flowers grow in large panicles from the joints of the stalk. Some stems grow to 25 cm in diameter, and are so hard and durable as to be used for building purposes. The smaller stalks are used for walking sticks, flutes, etc; and indeed the plant is used for innumerable purposes in the East Indies, China, and other Eastern countries. Cottages are almost wholly made of it; also, bridges, boxes, water-pipes, ladders, fences, bows and arrows, spears, baskets, mats, paper, masts for boats, etc. The young shoots are pickled and eaten, or otherwise used as food; the seeds of some species are also eaten. The substance called tabasheer is a siliceous deposit that gathers at the internodes of the stems. The bamboo is imported into Europe and America as a paper material as well as for other purposes. Research Bamboo
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Bamboo