Bamboos are not trees, but are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family called Poaceae. They are members of the subfamily Bambusoideae and tribe Bambuseae.Bamboos are considered the fastest growing woody plants in the world due to a unique rhizome-dependent system that is highly dependent on local soil and climate conditions. Its growth has been measured reaching skyward as fast as 47 ½ inches per 24-hour period, and it has been known to reach a growth rate exceeding 39 inches per hour for short periods of time.
Even though they are woody plants, the vicose from bamboo is used to make luxuriously soft bamboo sheets and bamboo clothing!
Unlike trees, bamboos grow to full height and girth in a single growing season of three to four months. During the first year, though, the young shoots head straight upward and don’t sprout branches or leaves. Over the next year, the pulpy wall of each culm (stem) slowly dries and hardens, and it sprouts branches and leaves from juvenile sheathes (protective covering) that form from each node.
During the next year, the culm continues to harden and sheds its juvenile sheaths to become a fully mature culm. During the next two to five years (depending on the species), fungus and mould start to form on the outside of the culm which eventually destroys it and causes it to collapse and decay (around years five to eight, depending on the species and climate). Bamboo’s brief life cycle means that it is ready for harvest–and suitable for use in construction–from year three to year seven.
There are more than 70 genera of bamboo divided into about 1,000 species and they are found in diverse climates– from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. Bamboo grows across East Asia (from 50°N latitude in Sakhalin) through to Northern Australia, and west to India and the Himalayas. Bamboo can also be found in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Americas from the Mid-Atlantic United States south to Argentina and Chile (reaching their southernmost point at 47°S latitude). The only major areas with no native bamboo include Europe and Antarctica.
Although some bamboos flower every year, most species flower infrequently and may only mass flower in intervals of between 60 and 120 years. The longest mass flowering interval known is 130 years, and is found for all the species Phyllostachys bambusoides (Sieb. & Zucc.). In this species, all plants of the same stock flower at the same time, regardless of differences in geographic locations or climatic conditions. Then the bamboo dies. Since there seems to be no environmental impact on the time of flowering, this indicates that there may be some sort of alarm clock in each cell signaling the diversion of all energy to flower production and the cessation of vegetative growth, though why this happens is still a mystery.
Come back next week for All About Bamboo: Part 2.
No related posts.
