Majority of people believe bamboo to be a kind of shrub or plant. In fact, it is neither. It is a type of grass. It can reach a height of about 35 metres and upto a thickness of about 30 cm. It has many varieties. About 600 species of bamboo have been studied. All kinds of bamboos have smooth, hard and strong trunks. The rate of their growth is very fast. It can grow up at the rate of 40 cm a day. One bamboo reportedly grew 90 cm in 24 hours. Some bamboos blossom only once in 30 years. Others may take 100 years to blossom. A bamboo plant dies after it blooms. The seeds from these blossoms grow into new plants.
It is only the stem of the bamboo grass that is of most use in the construction of roofs, huts, walls, houses, etc. It is used to make mats, baskets, musical pipes, paper, as a fishing rod and weapon for defence; it is cooked as vegetable and pickle is also made of them; some medicines are made from a fluid in the stem joints of bamboo branches. Its hollowed stems are used as water pipes especially in Japan.
It is found in abundance in South-East Asia, Indian subcontinent and the islands of the Pacific Ocean.