Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae.

[3][4][5] Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of Dendrocalamus sinicus having individual stalks (culms) reaching a length of 46 meters (151 ft), up to 36 centimeters (14 in) in thickness and a weight of up to 450 kilograms (1,000 lb).

[5][10][11] In bamboo, as in other grasses, the internodal regions of the stem are usually hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross-section are scattered throughout the walls of the stalk instead of in a cylindrical cambium layer between the bark (phloem) and the wood (xylem) as in dicots and conifers.

Certain species of bamboo can grow 91 centimeters (36 inches) within a 24-hour period, at a rate of almost 40 millimeters (1+1⁄2 in) an hour (equivalent to 1 mm (0.04 in) every 90 seconds).

[15] This rapid growth and tolerance for marginal land, make bamboo a good candidate for afforestation, carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation.

[25] Following more recent molecular phylogenetic research, many tribes and genera of grasses formerly included in the Bambusoideae are now classified in other subfamilies, e.g. the Anomochlooideae, the Puelioideae, and the Ehrhartoideae.

[citation needed] In the Asia-Pacific region, they occur across East Asia, from north to 50 °N latitude in Sakhalin,[28] to south to northern Australia, and west to India and the Himalayas.

[30] In the Americas, bamboo has a native range from 47 °S in southern Argentina and the beech forests of central Chile, through the South American tropical rainforests, to the Andes in Ecuador near 4,300 m (14,000 ft), with a noticeable gap through the Atacama Desert.

[citation needed] Three species of bamboo, all in the genus Arundinaria, are also native through Central America and Mexico, northward into the Southeastern United States.

[35] Many species are also cultivated as garden plants outside of this range, including in Europe and areas of North America where no native wild bamboo exists.

[citation needed] Recently, some attempts have been made to grow bamboo on a commercial basis in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, especially in Rwanda.

Clumping bamboo species tend to spread slowly, as the growth pattern of the rhizomes is to simply expand the root mass gradually, similar to ornamental grasses.

As the clump and its rhizome system mature, taller and larger culms are produced each year until the plant approaches its particular species limits of height and diameter.

Some of the hardiest bamboo species are grown in USDA plant hardiness zone 5,[citation needed] although they typically defoliate and may even lose all above-ground growth, yet the rhizomes survive and send up shoots again the next spring.

[50][49] Or in 2009, United Nations Industrial Development Organization published guidelines for cultivation of bamboo in semi-arid climates in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Bamboo cultivation is cheap and in addition to adding value to its production chain, it is a sustainable crop that brings environmental, economic and social benefits.

Recently, it was qualified and classified for the National Commission for Sustainable Development Objectives - CNDOS of the Presidency of the Republic of the federal government of Brazil.

[70] In Nepal, a delicacy popular across ethnic boundaries consists of bamboo shoots fermented with turmeric and oil, and cooked with potatoes into a dish that usually accompanies rice (alu tama[71] (आलु तामा) in Nepali).

In Indonesia, they are sliced thin and then boiled with santan (thick coconut milk) and spices to make a dish called gulai rebung.

[citation needed] The sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be fermented to make ulanzi (a sweet wine)[72] or simply made into a soft drink.

Fresh bamboo shoots are sliced and pickled with mustard seeds and turmeric and kept in glass jar in direct sunlight for the best taste.

The earliest surviving examples of such documents, written in ink on string-bound bundles of bamboo strips (or "slips"), date from the fifth century BC during the Warring States period.

[citation needed] Bamboo or wooden strips were used as the standard writing material during the early Han dynasty, and excavated examples have been found in abundance.

[citation needed][91] Bamboo has also long been used as scaffolding; the practice has been banned in China for buildings over six stories, but is still in continuous use for skyscrapers in Hong Kong.

In Japanese architecture, bamboo is used primarily as a supplemental or decorative element in buildings such as fencing, fountains, grates, and gutters, largely due to the ready abundance of quality timber.

The pine (sōng 松), the bamboo (zhú 竹), and the plum blossom (méi 梅) are also admired for their perseverance under harsh conditions, and are together known as the "Three Friends of Winter" (歲寒三友; suìhán sānyǒu) in Chinese culture.

[citation needed] In Philippine mythology, one of the more famous creation accounts tells of the first man Malakás ("Strong") and the first woman Maganda ("Beautiful") each emerging from one half of a split bamboo stem on an island formed after the battle between Sky and Ocean.

[citation needed] A bamboo cane is also the weapon of Vietnamese legendary hero, Thánh Gióng, who had grown up immediately and magically since the age of three because of his wish to liberate his land from Ân invaders.

The ancient Vietnamese legend Cây tre trăm đốt (The Hundred-knot Bamboo Tree) tells of a poor, young farmer who fell in love with his landlord's beautiful daughter.

"[113] Among the Cherokee, river cane has been used to make waterproof baskets, mats, fishing poles, flutes, blowguns, arrows, and to build houses, among other uses; the seed and young shoots are also edible.