The Asian bamboo species Dendrocalamus giganteus produces incredible growth in one day. Measurements have shown a difference in height of up to 91 cm per day. The bamboo shoots sprout out of the ground with a diameter of about 20 cm, and then take about two months to reach their full height of up to 30 metres.
In Japan bamboo is a symbol of purity, due to its very straight habit and its fresh green colour. In China it symbolises longevity, and in India friendship. But above all, bamboo stands for elasticity, stamina and tenacity. In Asia there is a saying: “Bamboo bends but does not break.”
Bamboo is exceptionally versatile. Young shoots can be eaten fresh or preserved as a vegetable. The tough but light wood is used as a building material and to make scaffolding. Moreover, bamboo also provides the raw material for a wide range of articles of daily use, ranging from baskets to paper and musical instruments.
Some bamboo species only flower very rarely – some just once. When they do so, they exhaust their last reserves and then die. Since bamboos usually flower at the same time, sometimes all the plants in a region will fall victim to their flowering. In many cultures the bamboo flower is regarded as a herald of famine.
There are about 1,200 different types of bamboo. Generally speaking, however, they can be divided into two groups: species that grow like “normal” grasses, do not become woody and only rarely grow taller than one metre, and others that grow to the height of a tree. In Asia, bamboo is as ubiquitous in daily life as it is in nature.
