bamboo is the tallest grass

The bamboo is the tallest grass. It grows to a height of about 35 meters and has a thickness of about 30 cm. bamboos grow at a great spread. They can grow about 40 cm, in a day. One bamboo was known to have grown 90 cm, in just one day.

The bamboo is usually thought to be a tree or a tall bush. That is why it is usually referred to as the bamboo tree. Actually the bamboo is a grass. There are more than 1000 varieties of them.

Bamboos have smooth, hard, strong trunks. Inside it is hollow. There are many joints in the stem. Some varieties of the bamboo bloom every year while there are others that take about 30 years. Some varieties bloom only after 100 years. Once the plant blooms, it dies. New plants spring out from the seeds of the blossoms that have fallen down.

The bamboo is found in tropical and sub-tropical climate in Asia, South America and Africa. Since ages the bamboo has been used for a variety of purposes. It is used for construction of roots and walls of huts and houses, making mats, baskets, flute, paper, chairs, tables, cots and posts. The tender shoots of certain varieties of bamboo are also eaten as a vegetable. It is truly the most useful grass to mankind being light, cheap and strong.