50 Amazing Bamboo Facts

Bamboo is one of the most amazing plants there is. Bamboo has become increasingly popular over the past few years because of just how wonderful it is.

Here are 50 amazing bamboo facts that you should know.

1. The word Bamboo comes originally from the Malay word “mambu”. The Dutch took this word in the late 16th century and coined their own term, “bamboes”.
2. Bamboo is actually a type of grass, a flowering perennial evergreen.
3. Bamboo is the largest grass in the world, and the only grass that can diversify into forest.
4. Bamboo is usually a secondary vegetation type in forests, but has been found to be the dominant vegetation in some cases like in northeast India and the mountainsides of eastern Africa.
5. In the wild, a bamboo plant can live for over 120 years.
6. Bamboo flowers, but its flowers are rarely seen with some species only developing flowers after 65 or 120 years.
7. No matter where in the world a bamboo plant is, it will develop flowers at the same time as all the other plants of its species.
8. Some bamboo plants are herbaceous, short and having no woody stems above the ground, while others are very tall and woody.
9. A full-grown bamboo is not yet mature, but grows side branches and branchlets until maturity.
10. Woody bamboo stems are called culms, and they come up from the ground fully developed.
11. In young bamboo plants, the culms are protected by leaf-like wraps.
12. Most woody plants take many years to grow and mature, but bamboo takes only 3 to 5 years to be fully matured.
13. Bamboo plants do not increase in diameter like trees do as they age, and they do not grow taller than the height that they have reached after 1 year.
14. There are 1575 identified species of bamboo in 111 different genera.
15. Each species of bamboo has unique growth rates and characteristics.
16. The biggest variety of bamboo, the species Dendrocalamus sinicus, can grow to up to 40 metres (130 feet) tall with diametre of 30 centimetres.
17. Some bamboos can grow to a diametre of 20 centimetres.
18. Bamboo is native to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia, the Americas, Australia, and Africa.
19. Bamboo can grow at different altitudes and a variety of climates, but grows best in the tropics.
20. Bamboo plants can and can grow in a wide range of areas, from sea level to 4,000 metres (13,120 feet)
21. Bamboo plants can survive in extreme conditions where most plants can’t, such as in the Andes and Himalayas in temperatures far below -20°C.
22. Bamboo has also been known to survive extreme heat, the most famous example being the bamboo grove that was the only plant life to survive the radiation and incinerating heat blast of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
23. Bamboo is very easy to grow, and so is used for so many more purposes than any other natural material.
24. Bamboo can grow from rhizome, a mass of roots, or from seeds that are produced at the ends of the bamboo’s branches.
25. The roots of the bamboo plant are very strong and develop into a wide system where many plants exist, providing stability to the soil and preventing erosion.
26. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world, with certain species like the Chinese Moso bamboo growing up to 1 metre (3 feet) in just one day where climate and soil conditions are just right.
27. Guinness World Records has one bamboo species that grows up to 91 centimetres (35 inches) per day, or almost 4 centimetres (1.5 inches) per hour, which equates to a speed of 0.00003 km/h (0.00002 mph).
28. The fastest growing bamboos cannot maintain this growth rate but spurt during shooting season.
29. Bamboo can grow healthy without using any fertilizers because its own leaves that fall to the ground provide all the nutrients it needs to grow strong.
30. Bamboo is a versatile plant that can be used for construction, medicine, clothing, crafts, and food.
31. Bamboo has a structure that is stronger than steel, making it a popular material in the construction industry for scaffolding, and also for floors, furniture, and house walls.
32. About 100 species of bamboo are used commercially, and about 20 of these are considered the top species for commercial plantations.
33. There are hundreds of attractive bamboo species that are used for ornamental purposes and grown in nurseries for use in landscaping.
34. Traditional medicine makes use of the compounds in bamboo to treat infections and wounds for faster healing.
35. Bamboo is used to make a variety of everyday items that need to be strong, such as skateboards, bicycle frames and helmets.
36. Bamboo is commonly eaten as a soup or salad in Asian cuisine.
37. Young bamboo shoots that are for human consumption are boiled at a very high temperature to counteract the toxin called taxiphyllin that is found in them.
38. Many animals consume bamboo as part of their diet, including the famous panda bear, African mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, bamboo rats and Madagascar lemurs.
39. Bamboo can grow unharmed by insects and other pests without the use of pesticides because of this same toxin which keeps pests away.
40. The bamboo plant absorbs more carbon dioxide from the air than any other plant and produces 30% more oxygen than any other plant, effectively cleaning the air and reducing the effects of greenhouse gases.
41. Bamboo fibres are the strongest natural fibres in the world, making bamboo textiles very durable.
42. Bamboo fibres have rounded edges, which make them exceedingly soft and gentle when used as bedding or clothing.
43. 100% naturally made bamboo textiles retain the antibacterial properties of bamboo.
44. Bamboo fibre is hypoallergenic.
45. Bamboo fibre has natural wicking properties that keep moisture away from the skin.
46. Bamboo fibre has natural cooling properties and does not retain body heat, making it the best choice of material for warm climates and hot sleepers.
47. Because of its antimicrobial bio-agent, bamboo antifungal and makes bamboo fibre odour resistant.
48. Thomas Edison tested 1,600 different materials to use as filament in his 1880 light bulb (including coconut fiber, fishing line, and hairs from a worker’s beard), and found that carbonized bamboo fibre conducted electrical current the best, and lasted more than any other material at the time – 1,200 hours.
49. Today, bamboo charcoal in a very thin film disbursed on the surface of a glass or silicon substrate is used as a natural “nano tube” to conduct electricity.
50. Lucky Bamboo is a very popular ornamental plant that is not actually bamboo.

Have these 50 bamboo facts inspired you to love bamboo as much as we do? We hope so!