20 Interesting Facts About Bamboo

Bamboo is one of the oldest and most interesting plants on the planet. Incredibly regenerative, sustainable, and versatile, bamboo is now commonly used for furniture, construction, cooking, textiles, skincare, and manufacturing purposes. Here are 20 more interesting facts about Bamboo:

1. Bamboos are evergreen perennial flowering plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae
    
2. Bamboo is the fastest growing land plant in the world
    
3. Bamboo is not a tree – it is a grass plant
    
4. Thomas Edison used a carbonised bamboo filament in the very first successful lightbulb
    
5. A Panda’s diet is made up of 99% bamboo shoots, poles and leaves; accounting for 12-38kg every day
    
6. Bamboo is mostly drought tolerant. However, when a bamboo plant is dehydrated, it will curl up its leaves to shy away from heat and await rain or water
    
7. Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal
    
8. Bamboo is used to produce clothing, linen, furniture, and charcoal
    
9. Bamboo will grow almost anywhere in the world, in both really hot and cold countries. All continents have native species of bamboo, except for Europe and Antarctica
    
10. The size of bamboo depends on the species. The largest species of bamboo can grow up to 1300 feet in height
     
11. Bamboo can grow either as woody, tall plants or as shorter, herbaceous plants
     
12. Bamboo flowers are rarely seen. Some species will flower after 65 or 120 years
     
13. All plants of one bamboo species develop flowers at the same time, no matter where they are located in the world
     
14. Bamboo does not need fertilisers for optimal growth. Discarded bamboo leaves provide all of the nutrients needed when they start to decompose
     
15. Bamboo shoots are often used in Asian cuisine. After boiling, bamboo can be served as a salad or consumed in the form of soup
     
16. Bamboo is used in folk medicine to treat infections and support and accelerate the healing of wounds
     
17. Bamboo is actually stronger than steel and is widely used in construction
     
18. Bamboo can survive more than 120 years in the wild
     
19. Young bamboo shoots contain a toxin called taxiphyllin – they need to be boiled before consumption to destroy the toxicity
     
20. Bamboo releases 30% more oxygen into the atmosphere and absorbs more carbon dioxide than most other plants. This makes bamboo incredibly sustainable, greatly decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and cleaning the air