Bamboo
The plant
To date, botanists have identified some 1,200 species of bamboo, some 80 genera of which have been classified. The plants range in size from the smallest at 30 cm, to the giant varieties which can grow up to 40 metres high.
A bamboo belt encircles the world along the 40th parallel. It is found in almost every continent, north and south, with the exception of Antarctica. But Phyllostachys Pubescens (or moso), the raw material for BambooTouch®, is found only in China.
Bamboo is a member of the large Gramineae family, or more accurately Poaceae, which also includes wheat, maize and lawn grass.
Bamboo has underground stems known as rhizomes on which the buds and roots are found. Some buds develop and produce culms (aerial stems) which are hollow between the nodes. The culm varies in colour (green, yellow, black) and may be mottled or striated.
The growth nodes are regularly spaced: unlike a tree trunk which increases in diameter, the culm extends like a telescopic cane. In contrast to other tresses, bamboo has only one annual ring as it does not increase in thickness. The bamboo shoot emerges from the soil with the same circumference as it will have throughout its life.
Every year, at the end of the period of growth of the culm and branches, the rhizome continues to advance and branch out under the ground. Bamboo grows equally well at an altitude of 4,000 metres as in the hot, humid jungle. It can withstand temperatures of -20°C.
Bamboo is a member of the large Gramineae family, or more accurately Poaceae, which also includes wheat, maize and lawn grass.
Bamboo has underground stems known as rhizomes on which the buds and roots are found. Some buds develop and produce culms (aerial stems) which are hollow between the nodes. The culm varies in colour (green, yellow, black) and may be mottled or striated.
The growth nodes are regularly spaced: unlike a tree trunk which increases in diameter, the culm extends like a telescopic cane. In contrast to other tresses, bamboo has only one annual ring as it does not increase in thickness. The bamboo shoot emerges from the soil with the same circumference as it will have throughout its life.
Every year, at the end of the period of growth of the culm and branches, the rhizome continues to advance and branch out under the ground. Bamboo grows equally well at an altitude of 4,000 metres as in the hot, humid jungle. It can withstand temperatures of -20°C.
