Bamboo (redirected from Hibanobambusa)

bamboo, plant of the family Gramineae (grass family), chiefly of warm or tropical regions, where it is sometimes an extremely important component of the vegetation. It is most abundant in the monsoon area of E Asia. Bamboos are the the largest grasses, sometimes reaching 100 ft (30 m). The stalks are round (rarely square), jointed, sometimes thorny, and hollow or solid with evergreen or deciduous leaves. Some types die after fruiting and some do not flower until they are about 30 years old. In many places bamboo is used as wood for construction work, furniture, utensils, fiber, paper, fuel, and innumerable small articles. Bamboo sprouts are eaten as a vegetable, and the grains of some species are also utilized for food. The bamboo has long been used for decorative purposes, both in gardens and in art. In the United States the native bamboo is a cane. The most common bamboo is Bambusa arundinacea. Bamboo is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Lilopsida, order Cyperales, family Gramineae.

Bibliography

See F. A. McClure, The Bamboos (1966).

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bamboo

Any of the tall, treelike grasses, found in tropical and subtropical to mild temperate regions, that make up the subfamily Bambusoideae, family Poaceae (or Gramineae). Bamboos are giant, fast-growing grasses with woody stems. A few species of the genus Arundinaria are native to the southern U.S., where they form dense canebrakes along riverbanks and in marshy areas. The woody, hollow aerial stems grow in branching clusters from a thick rhizome, often forming a dense undergrowth that excludes other plants. All parts of the bamboo are used, for purposes including food, livestock fodder, fine-quality paper, construction materials, and medicines. Bamboos also have ornamental use in landscape gardens.

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bamboo

1. any tall treelike tropical or semitropical fast-growing grass of the genus Bambusa, having hollow woody-walled stems with ringed joints and edible young shoots (bamboo shoots)

2. the stem of any of these plants, used for building, poles, and furniture

3. any of various bamboo-like grasses of the genera Arundinaria, Phyllostachys or Dendrocalamus

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bamboo [bam′bü]

(botany)

The common name of various tropical and subtropical, perennial, ornamental grasses in five genera of the family Gramineae characterized by hollow woody stems up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter.

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Bamboo 

(Bambusoideae), a subfamily of grasses that is sometimes classified in the separate family Bambusaceae. Bamboos are predominantly rhizomatous perennials with well-developed woody stems (culms). Bamboos can attain a height of more than 40 m and a diameter of up to 30 cm. The leaves are sheathed with small petioles. The flowers usually have six stamens. Bamboos bloom either annually or over significant intervals of time. In many bamboos the underground parts die simultaneously in all the individuals after blooming (sometimes over large territories).

There are about 50 genera and 600 species, which grow chiefly in the tropics and subtropics of Southeast Asia and the Malay Archipelago. There are fewer bamboos in Africa and America, very few in Australia, and none in Europe. A small number of bamboos that have adapted to a temperate climate grow wild in eastern Asia. In the USSR (on the Kuril Islands and in Sakhalin) several species are found; they form dense, sometimes impenetrable thickets in the forests under the canopy of the trees. About 20 species of bamboos are cultivated on the Black Sea coast, mainly in the Caucasus. Some of them—for example Pseudosasa japonica—are rather widely found; several species from the genera Pleioblastus and Phyllostachys can be cultivated to grow to nearly normal size and are important to industry.

Bamboos have a wide number of uses. The large woody culms are used for building houses, bridges, and water pipes and for manufacturing furniture, baskets, blinds, and mats. The young shoots and seeds of certain bamboos are edible, and the pulp of certain species contains a sweet juice that produces the so-called bamboo sugar.

REFERENCES

Ginkul, S. G. Bambuki i ikh kul’tura v SSSR. Batumi, 1938.
Camus, E. G. Les Bambusées: Monographie, biologie, culture, principaux usages. Paris, 1913.
McClure, F. A. Bamboos:A Fresh Perspective. Cambridge (Mass.), 1966.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV