The 40 Best Bamboo Species for Commercial Farming
Discover the top 40 bamboo species ideal for commercial farming. Explore the diverse range of bamboo varieties with high potential for large-scale cultivation, offering sustainable solutions for various industries.
How to Determine the Height of a Bamboo Culm?
Is it possible to determine the approximate height of a bamboo culm by measuring its girth or diameter? Absolutely! In fact, bamboo is the only plant that exhibits a direct mathematical relationship between the circumference of its culm and both the internode length and overall height.
Bamboo Genera
All 139 bamboo genera are listed here. Learn more about the different types of bamboo and their typical growth habits, origin and optimal climate conditions.
Dendrocalamus peculiaris
Dendrocalamus peculiaris is a large, dense tropical bamboo native to Yunnan, China. Impressive are the giant leaves, which can reach 40 cm in length. The stems of this bamboo are used as a building material, to produce paper pulp, and the shoots are used as food.
Bambusa glaucophylla
Bambusa glaucophylla or "Malay Dwarf Variegated Bamboo" is a very dense clumping bamboo native to Java, Indonesia. It has beautiful green leaves with white stripes, and is one of the best bamboos for hedges and living fences. Bambusa glaucophylla is also a very attractive ornamental plant, especially highlighted in the garden by plants with darker foliage in the background. This bamboo is very easily to trim and is drought tolerant once established.
Schizostachyum brachycladum
Schizostachyum brachycladum, also known as "Sacred Bali Bamboo" is a stunning medium size tropical bamboo native to Southeast Asia. Sacred Bali Bamboo has bright yellow culms with green stripes and large yellow striped leaves. Schizostachyum brachycladum is used to make crafts, basketry and as containers for cooking or carrying water. It is also a very popular ornamental bamboo for gardens, landscaping or as windbreak.
Melocanna baccifera
Melocanna baccifera or "Muli Bamboo" is a tropical bamboo native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal. Melocanna baccifera is an invasive species that can occupy large areas due to its long and vigorous rhizomes and, in flowering, for its fruits that are easy to germinate. Fruits have the size and shape of a pear and are edible. Melocanna baccifera is one of the most useful bamboos within its native range, especially in Bangladesh, where stems have a wide range of uses.
Bambusa textilis
Bambusa textilis, also known as "Weaver’s Bamboo", is a species of bamboo native to China and Vietnam. It grows in a dense clump up to 8 - 12 meters high and has no lower branches. Bambusa textilis is very suitable for living fences or windbreaks. The stems are often used for weaving, basketry or light construction.
Bambusa chungii
Bambusa chungii, also known as "Tropical Blue Bamboo" or "Emperor's Blue Bamboo", is a species of bamboo native to China and Vietnam. It grows in a dense clump up to 8 to 12 meters high and has no low branches. Bambusa chungii is very suitable for living fences or windbreaks. The stems with very long internodes are often used for weaving and basketry or for paper production.
Phyllostachys aurea
Phyllostachys aurea or "Golden Bamboo", is a bamboo species native to China and Vietnam. It is a graceful bamboo producing large clumps of bright green canes becoming yellowish with age and exposure. The culms are easily identified by their characteristic compressed internodes in the lower part of the canes which have a tortoiseshell-like appearance.
90 Types of Bamboo used for Building and Construction
The best bamboo species for building and construction are found in the tropics, more specifically within the genera: Guadua, Dendrocalamus and Bambusa.
Dendrocalamus sinicus
Dendrocalamus sinicus, also known as “Giant Dragon Bamboo”, is the largest bamboo in the world. It has the tallest and biggest culms of any known bamboo species which can reach up to 46 meters in height, and up to 37 cm in diameter.
All 132 Edible Bamboo Species, Ranked from Best to Bitter
Of the 1718 known bamboo species worldwide, 101 species are recorded to have edible shoots. Edible meaning a satisfactory to delicious taste, because even though some bamboo shoots are classified as edible, they must be carefully prepared and boiled before consuming!
Bambusa tulda
Bambusa tulda, commonly known as Bengal Bamboo or Indian Timber Bamboo, is a fast growing medium-sized tropical clumping bamboo native to the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Tibet, and Yunnan.
Schizostachyum pergracile
Schizostachyum pergracile ( previously Cephalostachyum pergracile) is a beautiful medium sized clumping bamboo native to India and Indochina. The common name for this bamboos species is Tinwa Bamboo and the plant has good quality canes which are used extensively for cooking and baking sticky rice, the poles are also used for construction.
Bambusa sp. Longinternode
Bambusa sp. Longinternode is a medium sized tropical bamboo native to China. It typically has long internodes (space between the culm nodes) and nearly solid culms at the base. The abbreviation "sp." means that the actual species name is not yet specified.
Bamboo Identification Made Easy: A Step By Step Guide
To identify a bamboo species you will need to observe all parts of the bamboo plant in great detail. Rarely can a single part of the plant be used to recognize a bamboo species immediately. Usually it is a combination of characteristics that lead to the correct identification or classification of a bamboo species.
Is Bamboo a Tree? Science vs Politics.
Scientifically speaking bamboo is undoubtedly grass, but in terms of legislation, bamboo is often classified as a tree. Find out why correct classified can avoid major legal, economic, and environmental implications.
Guadua angustifolia
Guadua angustifolia ‘Kunth’ is a tropical species of giant timber bamboo native to South America. It is considered to be the strongest bamboo in the world, and also the 3rd largest. Guadua bamboo is by far the most important bamboo in America.
Chusquea gigantea
Chusquea gigantea, previously listed as Chusquea aff. culeou or Chusquea breviglumis, is a South American bamboo native to Chile. The species is considered to be the largest, and one of the hardiest within the Chusquea genus.