''Bambusa vulgaris'', common bamboo, is an open-clump type

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

species. It is native to

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and to the province of

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

in southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, but it has been widely cultivated in many other places and has become naturalized in several regions.Dieter Ohrnberger, ''The bamboos of the world'', pages 279–280, Elsevier, 1999, Among bamboo species, it is one of the largest and most easily recognized.''Biology Pamphlets'' (Volume 741), page 15,

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, 1895D. Louppe, A.A. Oteng-Amoako and M. Brink, ''Timbers'' (vol. 1), pages 100–103, PROTA, 2008,

Description

''Bambusa vulgaris'' forms moderately loose clumps and has no thorns.Flora of North America Editorial Committee, ''Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae'', page 22, Oxford University Press, 2007, It has lemon-yellow culms (stems) with green stripes and dark green leaves.''Bambusa vulgaris''
, OzBamboo; Retrieved: 2007-12-19 Stems are not straight, not easy to split, inflexible, thick-walled, and initially strong.
, Protabase, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa The densely tufted culms grow high and thick.A. N. Rao, V. Ramanatha Rao and

John Dransfield John Dransfield (born 1945) is former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Dransfield has written or contributed to several books on palms, notably both the first and second editions of '' Genera Palmarum''. ...

, ''Priority species of bamboo and rattan'', page 25, Bioversity International, 1998, Culms are basally straight or flexuose (bent alternately in different directions), drooping at the tips. Culm walls are slightly thick.Bambusa vulgaris
Flora of China, eFloras.com Nodes are slightly inflated.

Internodes A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages in pho ...

are . Several branches develop from mid-culm nodes and above. Culm leaves are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

with dense

pubescence Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's Human body, body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormone, hormonal signals from the Human brain, brain to the gonads: the ovary ...

. Leaf blades are narrowly

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

. Flowering is not common, and there are no seeds. Fruits are rare due to low pollen viability caused by irregular

meiosis Meiosis () is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, the sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells, each with only one c ...

. At the interval of several decades, the whole population of an area blooms at once, W. Arthur Whistler, ''Tropical ornamentals: a guide'', pages 77–78, Timber Press, 2000, and individual stems bear a large number of flowers. Vegetation propagates through clump division, by

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

, stem and branch cutting,

layering Layering can refer to: * Layering (horticulture), a means of vegetative propagation * Layering (finance), a strategy in high frequency trading * Layering (linguistics), a principle by which grammaticalisation can be detected * Surface layering ...

, and

marcotting Layering is a vegetative propagation technique where the stem or branch of a plant is manipulated to promote root development while still attached to the parent plant. Once roots are established, the new plant can be detached from the parent an ...

.D. Louppe, A.A. Oteng-Amoako and M. Brink (edit.), ''Timbers 1'' (Volume 7), PROTA, 2008, The easiest and most practised cultivation method is culm or branch cutting. In the Philippines, the best results were obtained from one-node cuttings from the lower parts of six-month-old culms. When a stem dies, the clump usually survives. A clump can grow out of stem used for poles, fences, props, stakes, or posts. Its rhizomes extend up to 80 cm before turning upward to create open, fast-spreading clumps. The easy propagation of ''B. vulgaris'' explains its seemingly wild occurrence. The average chemical composition is

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

41–44%, pentosans 21–23%,

lignin Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidit ...

26–28%, ash 1.7–1.9%, and

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...

0.6–0.7%.

Taxonomy

The bambusoid taxa have long been considered the most "primitive" grasses, mostly because of the presence of

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

, indeterminate

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s, pseudospikelets (units of

or flower clusters and

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flow ...

s or leaf-like structures in woody bamboos that is similar to

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

s or clumps of grass), and

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s with three

lodicule A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikel ...

s (tiny scale-like structure at the bottom of a

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

s or clump of grass flowers, found between lemma, the lowest part of spikelets, and sexual organs of the flower), six

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s, and three stigmas.Clark, LG, W Zhang, JF Wendel. 1995. A Phylogeny of the Grass Family (Poaceae) Based on ndhF Sequence Data. Systematic Botany 20(4): 436–460. Bamboos are some of the fastest growing plants in the world. ''B. vulgaris'' is a species of the large genus ''

Bambusa ''Bambusa'' is a large genus of clumping bamboos. Most species of ''Bambusa'' are rather large, with numerous branches emerging from the nodes, and one or two much larger than the rest. The branches can be as long as 11 m (35 ft). They ...

'' of the clumping bamboo tribe

Bambuseae The Bambuseae are the most diverse tribe of bamboos in the grass family ( Poaceae). They consist of woody species from tropical regions, including some giant bamboos. Their sister group are the small herbaceous bamboos from the tropics in tr ...

, which are found largely in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

areas of Asia, especially in the wet tropics. The pachymorph (

sympodial In botany, sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, als ...

or superposed in such a way as to imitate a simple axis)

system of clumping bamboos expands horizontally by only a short distance each year.Bamboo Biology – Runners vs. Clumpers
", Complete Bamboo, Bamboo Plant Information Resource The shoots emerge in a tight or open habit (group), depending on the species; common bamboo has open groups. Regardless of the degree of openness of each species' clumping habit, none of the clumpers are considered invasive. New culms can only form at the very tip of the rhizome. The Bambuseae are a group of

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

s in subfamily

Bambusoideae Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of '' Dendrocalamus sinicus'' ...

, characterized by having three stigmata and tree-like behavior.

Cultivars

At least three groupings of ''B. vulgaris''

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s can be distinguished: * Plants with green stems * Golden bamboo (plants with yellow stems): Plants always contain yellow stems, often with green stripes of different intensity. Usually the stems have thicker walls than those of the green stem group. This group is often distinguished as ''Bambusa vulgaris'' var. ''striata''. * Buddha's belly bamboo: Plants with stems up to about tall, in diameter, green, with -long inflated internodes in the lower part. This group is often distinguished as ''B. v.'' var. ''wamin''. The more common cultivars are:Laurence Hatch, ''

Cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s of Woody Plants'' (Volume I: A-G), section Bambusa, TCR Press, 2007, * 'Aureovariegata' (''B. v.'' var.'' aureovariegata'' Beadle): With rich golden yellow culms striped in green, sometimes in very thin lines, it is the most common variety of ''B. vulgaris''. * 'Striata' (''Bambusa vulgaris var. striata'' (Lodd. ex Lindl.) Gamble): A common variety, smaller in size than other varieties, with bright yellow internodes and random markings with longitudinal stripes in light and deep green. * 'Wamin' (''B. v.'' f. ''waminii'' T.H.Wen): It is smaller in size than other varieties with short and flattened internodes. Likely to have originated in South China, 'Wamin' bamboo is spread throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Basally inflated internodes give it a unique appearance.''Bamboo The Amazing Grass'', page 44, Bioversity International * 'Vittata' (''B. v.'' f. ''vittata'' (Rivière & C.Rivière) McClure): A common variety that grows up to tall, it has

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

-like striping in green. * 'Kimmei': Culms yellow, striped with green * 'Maculata': Green culms mottled with black, turning mostly black with aging * 'Wamin Striata': Grows up to tall, light green striped in dark green, with swollen lower internodes

Distribution and habitat

Common bamboo is the most widely grown bamboo throughout the tropics and subtropics. Although mostly known only from cultivation, spontaneous (non

domesticated Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of reso ...

), escaped, and

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

populations exist throughout the tropics and subtropics in and outside Asia. ''B. vulgaris'' is widely cultivated in

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

, and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, as well as tropical Africa including Madagascar. It is highly concentrated in the

Indomalayan The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s. The species is one of the most successful bamboos in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

.Maxim Lobovikov, Lynn Ball and María Guardia, ''World bamboo resources'', pages 13–18,

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, 2007, Popular as a hothouse plant by the 1700s, it was one of the earliest bamboo species introduced into Europe. It is believed to have been introduced to Hawaii in the time of Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

(the late 18th century), and is the most popular ornamental plant there.Horace Freestone Clay, James C. Hubbard and Rick Golt, ''Tropical Exotics'', page 10, University of Hawaii Press, 1987, ''B. vulgaris'' is widely cultivated in the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, apparently since introduction by Spaniards in 1840. It may have been the first foreign species introduced into the United States by Europeans.Ted Jordan Meredith, ''Timber Press pocket guide to bamboos'', page 49, Timber Press, 2009,

Ecology

''B. vulgaris'' grows mostly on river banks, road sides, wastelands, and open ground, generally in the low altitudes. It is a preferred species for

erosion control Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, coast, coastal areas, Bank (geography), river banks and construction. Effective erosion controls handle surface runoff and are ...

. It grows best under humid conditions, but can tolerate unfavorable conditions like low temperatures and drought. Though adoptable to a wide range of soils, common bamboo grows more vigorously on moist soils. It can tolerate frost down to , and can grow on ground up to above sea level, though in higher altitudes stems grow shorter and thinner. In extreme droughts, it may defoliate completely.

Pests

The two major threats to the species are small bamboo borers (''

Dinoderus minutus ''Dinoderus minutus'', the bamboo borer, is a species of wood-boring beetle. In tropical regions (and perhaps others), it is one of the main pests of bamboo, attracted by the internal starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate co ...

''), which as adults bore stems in India, China, Philippines, Australia, and Japan, and bamboo weevils ('' Cyrtotrachelus longimanus''), which destroy shoots during their larval stage in South China.D. S. Hill, ''Pests of Crops in Warmer Climates and Their Control'', page 517, Springer, 2008, Other

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

include leaf blight (''

Cercospora ''Cercospora'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Most species have no known sexual stage, and when the sexual stage is identified, it is in the genus '' Mycosphaerella''. Most species of this genus cause plant diseases, and form leaf spots. It is ...

''), basal culm rot (''

Fusarium ''Fusarium'' (; ) is a large genus of filamentous fungi, part of a group often referred to as hyphomycetes, widely distributed in soil and associated with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes, and are relatively abundant members of the s ...

''), culm sheath rot (''

Glomerella cingulata ''Glomerella cingulata'' is a fungal plant pathogen, being the name of the sexual stage (teleomorph) while the more commonly referred to asexual stage (anamorph) is called ''Colletotrichum gloeosporioides''. For most of this article the pathogen ...

''), leaf rust ('' Kweilingia divina''), and leaf spots ('' Dactylaria''). In Bangladesh, bamboo blight caused by ''

Sarocladium oryzae ''Sarocladium oryzae'' (Sawada) is a plant pathogen causing the of rice and of Bambusoideae spp. in Asia. Taxonomy and morphology ''Sarocladium oryzae'' has conidiophores which are irregularly penicillate and slimy, 1-celled conidia. It wa ...

'' is a serious disease.

Uses

Common bamboo has a wide variety of uses, including the stems used as fuel and the leaves used as fodder, though a large amount of ingestion of leaves is known to cause neurological disorder among horses. The worldwide production and trade of ''B. vulgaris'' is considerable, though no statistics are available. It also has some disadvantages. Working and

machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

properties of the stems are poor, as they are not straight, not easy to split, and not flexible, but they are thick-walled and initially strong. Because of high carbohydrate content, stems are susceptible to attacks from fungi and insects such as

powderpost beetle Powderpost beetles are a group of seventy species of woodboring beetles classified in the insect subfamily Lyctinae. These beetles, along with spider beetles, death watch beetles, common furniture beetles, skin beetles, and others, make u ...

s. Protection from biological threats is essential for long-term use. ''B. v.'' var. ''striata'' is used as ornamental solitary or as border hedge. Its shoots boiled in water are sometimes used for medicinal qualities. Cultivated around the world, it is generally found in East, Southeast, and South Asia. ''B. v.'' f. ''waminii'' is cultivated in the US and Europe in addition to Asia. ''B. v.'' f. ''vittata'' is the most popular variety as an ornamental plant, and is considered to be very beautiful. The 'Kimmei' cultivar is mostly cultivated in Japan.

Ornamental

It is widely used as an ornamental plant.Ernest Braunton, ''The Garden Beautiful in California'', page 50, Applewood Books, 2008, It often is planted as fences and border hedges.Najma Dharani, ''Field guide to common trees & shrubs of East Africa'', page 198, Struik, 2002, It is also planted as a measure for

Construction

The stems or culms of ''B. vulgaris'' are used for fencing and construction, especially of small, temporary shelters, including flooring, roof tiles, panelling, and walls made wither with culms or split stems. The culm is used to make many parts of boats including masts, rudders, outriggers, and boating poles. It also is used to make furniture, basketry, windbreakers, flutes, fishing rods, tool handles, stakes, weapons, bows for fishing nets, smoking pipes, irrigation pipes, distillation pipes, and more. It is used as raw material for

paper pulp Pulp is a fibrous lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemicals or plant-based additives, pul ...

, especially in India. Paper made from ''B. vulgaris'' has exceptional

tear strength Tear resistance (or tear strength) is a measure of how well a material can withstand the effects of tearing. It is a useful engineering measurement for a wide variety of materials by many different test methods. Discussion For example, with rubbe ...

, comparable to paper made of

softwood Scots pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main differences between hardwoods and softwoods is that the sof ...

. It can also be used to make particle boards and

flexible packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

grade paper.

Food

Young shoots of the plant, cooked or pickled, are edible and eaten throughout Asia. Yellow shoots remain buttercup yellow after cooking. A

decoction Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal medicine systems. D ...

of the growing tips is mixed with

Job's tears Job's tears (''Coix lacryma-jobi''), also known as adlay or adlay millet, is a tall grain-bearing perennial tropical plant of the family Poaceae (grass family). It is native to Southeast Asia and introduced to Northern China and India in remote ...

(''Coix lacryma-jobi'') to make a refreshing drink in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. The shoots are tender and whitish pink, and have a fair

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

quality. A serving of young shoots of green-stem

s has 90 g of water, 2.6 g of protein, 4.1 g of fat, 0.4 g of digestible carbohydrates, 1.1 g of insoluble

dietary fiber Dietary fiber (fibre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical co ...

, 22.8 mg of calcium, 37 mg of phosphorus, 1.1 mg of iron, and 3.1 mg of

ascorbic acid Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with formula , originally called hexuronic acid. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves freely in water to give mildly acidic solutions. It is a mild reducing agent. Asco ...

. A serving of young shoots of yellow-stem cultivars has 88 g of water, 1.8 g of protein, 7.2 g of fat, 0.0 g of digestible carbohydrates, 1.2 grams of insoluble fiber, 28.6 mg of calcium, 27.5 mg of phosphorus, and 1.4 mg of iron.

Indigenous medicine

Golden bamboo is considered in many traditions across Asia to have medicinal value. Many uses are found in

herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

, though the effects are not clinically proven. In Java, water stored in golden bamboo tubes is used as a cure of various diseases. In the Congo, its leaves are used as part of a treatment against

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

; in Nigeria, an infusion of

macerated Maceration is the process of preparing foods through the softening or breaking into pieces using a liquid. Raw, dried or preserved fruit or vegetables are soaked in a liquid to soften the food, or absorb the flavor of the liquid into the food. ...

leaves is taken against

sexually transmitted disease A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...

s and as an

abortifacient An abortifacient ("that which will cause a miscarriage" from Latin: '' abortus'' "miscarriage" and '' faciens'' "making") is a substance that induces abortion. This is a nonspecific term which may refer to any number of substances or medications, ...

– the latter has been shown to work in rabbits.

Cultivation

Though not suited for small yards, as it grows in large clumps, young plants of golden bamboo can be grown in large containers.Arthur Van Langenberg and Ip Kung Sau, ''Urban gardening: a Hong Kong gardener's journal'', page 38, Chinese University Press, 2006, Golden bamboo grows well in full sunlight or partial shade. Protection is important, as animals often graze on young shoots. In Tanzania, management of ''B. vulgaris'' cultivation entails clearing of the ground around clumps.

Toxicity

Among all bamboos, only shoots of ''B. vulgaris'' contains taxiphyllin (a

cyanogenic glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

) that functions as an

enzyme inhibitor An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and blocks its Enzyme activity, activity. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions necessary for life, in which Substrate (biochemistry), substrate molecules are converted ...

in the human body when released, but degrades readily in boiling water. It is highly toxic, and the lethal dose for humans is about 50–60 mg. A dose of 25 mg cyanogenic glycoside fed to rats (100–120 g body weight) caused clinical signs of toxicity, including

apnoea Apnea (also spelled apnoea in British English) is the temporary cessation of breathing. During apnea, there is no movement of the muscles of inhalation, and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged. Depending on how blocked the airw ...

ataxia Ataxia (from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in e ...

, and

paresis In medicine, paresis (), compound word from Greek , (πᾰρᾰ- “beside” + ἵημι “let go, release”), is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. Whe ...

. Horses in

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

, were diagnosed with clinical signs of

somnolence Somnolence (alternatively sleepiness or drowsiness) is a state of strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods (compare hypersomnia). It has distinct meanings and causes. It can refer to the usual state preceding falling aslee ...

and severe ataxia after ingesting ''B. vulgaris''.Franklin Riet-Correa, ''Poisoning by Plants, Mycotoxins and Related Toxins'', page 292, CABI, 2011, Farmers in Africa sometimes prefer to buy it rather than plant it, as they believe it harms the soil.Karen Ann Dvořák, ''Social science research for agricultural technology development'', page 175, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), 1993,

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3219428 vulgaris Flora of Yunnan Flora of Indo-China Plants described in 1808 Garden plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Asia Plants used in traditional African medicine Austronesian agriculture to:Pitu

Description

Taxonomy

Cultivars

Distribution and habitat

Ecology

Pests

Uses

Ornamental

Construction

Food

Indigenous medicine

Cultivation

Toxicity

See also

References