Bamboo

Bamboo fan
MFA #: 43.1303

Description

The common name for any tall, woody, evergreen plants that grow abundantly in tropical and subtropical areas. Bamboos, with over 480 species, belong to the family Gramineae and the most widely known bamboos come from the Bambusa genera. The woody, jointed stems, called culms, grow to 50 m (164 feet) in height. The fast-growing plants contain large amounts of protein and very low amounts of carbohydrates which makes them an ideal source of food for many animals, such as pandas and gorillas. Bamboo is a dominant raw, material in Asia where there is an extensive cultivation industry. The wood has been used locally for constructing houses, rafts, poles, bridges, and scaffolding. Exports of bamboo stems to Europe and the Americas in the 19th century were popular for chairs, tables, cabinets, and other interior furniture. They are also split, flattened and woven into smaller items such as baskets, mats, hats, and fish traps. Bamboo has also become an important source of long, cellulose fibers for specialty papers. Additionally, a wax is extracted from the bamboo leaves that has properties similar to candelilla wax. Bamboo ash has been used as a natural cleaning agent because of its abrasive and absorbent properties. Additionally, bamboo prunings and leaves have been used to produce golden yellow dyes.

Chinese panpipes
MFA# 17.2097

Synonyms and Related Terms

Bambusa; Bambus (Dan., Deut., Nor., Pol.); bambú (Esp., It.); bambou (Fr.); bamboe (Ned.); bambu (Port.)

Applications

• Wood is used for construction, furniture, weapons, and musical instruments
• Cut stems can be shaped into utensils, jewelry, weapons as well as woven for baskets and crafts
• Shoots are used for food
• Fibers and pulp are used for paper and textiles
• Charcoal is used as a fuel source and light filaments while the ash is used in filters, cleaning supplies and as a concrete filler (see Bamboo ash)

Bamboo species

(Table source: Guadua Bamboo 2023)

Bamboo species	Soil type	Climatic conditions	Uses
Bambusa tulda Roxb.	Common on flat alluvial soil along streams in mixed deciduous forests, loamy, fertile and well drained	Tropical to sub-tropical conditions	Pulp and paper, lumber, Agarbatti sticks, handicrafts, food
Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss	Nearly all types of soil having good drainage, however sandy loams, alluvial soils and slightly acidic soils exhibit superior growth	Tropical to sub-tropical conditions	Construction, scaffolding, ladders, furniture, pulp and paper, food and fodder
Bambusa balcooa Roxb.	Grows in wide variety of soil types but heavy textured soil with adequate drainage is most productive	Tropical to sub-tropical conditions	Scaffolding, construction, ladders, Agarbatti sticks, food, paper
Bambusa polymorpha Munro	Well drained alluvial and loamy soils	Tropical to sub-tropical conditions	House construction, woven matting, baskets, furniture, handicrafts, paper, pulp and board making, edible shoots with a distinctly sweet taste, landscaping.
Bambusa nutans Wall. ex Munro	Well drained sandy loam to clayey loam	Tropical	Baskets, fences, roofs and roof tiles, paper, treating inflammation, ulcers and wounds
Dendrocalamus asper (Schult. & Schult.f.) Backer	Well drained black soils, Sandy clay loam or shallow lateritic soil mixed with fine sandy clay. Good drainage is vital.	Sub-tropical to tropical. Suitable for drier zones	High quality edible shoots, construction
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii Nees & Arn. ex Munro	Wide variety of soils with good drainage, sandy loam soils are most suitable	Tropical to sub-tropical	Young shoots are widely consumed as vegetables, construction (houses, bridges), pulp and paper
Thyrsostachys oliveri Gamble	Well drained loamy soils	Tropical	Construction, furniture, baskets, umbrellas, fishing rods, sports goods, edible shoots
Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz	Moist sandy, clay loam alluvial soils, well drained residual soils.	Tropical to sub-tropical	Edible shoots, famine food, leaves for brewing liquor, Tabashir - a siliceous concretion found in the culms of the bamboo stem, can be collected from the culms and used as a tonic in treating respiratory diseases.
Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees	Sandy loam soil with good drainage	Tropical to sub-tropical	Pulp and paper, construction, furniture, mats, sticks, baskets, household utensils, food

Physical and Chemical Properties

Bamboo wax: melting point=78-80, density=0.961, iodine value=7.8, acid value=14.5, saponification value=43.4,

Paper fiber type: Non-woody/grass. Using transmitted light microscopy, fibers appear long, narrow and thick-walled. Pitted vessels (some very wide), barrel-shaped and rectangular parenchyma cells are also present. Unlike other grasses, bamboo does not have serrated epidermal cells. Appearance with Graff "C" stain: reddish blue. Average dimensions of fibers: length 2.7mm; width 14μm. Common pulping method: kraft.

Risks

• Combustible.
• May cause allergic reactions

Additional Images

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  Bamboo

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  Bamboo fibers

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  Bamboo pulp stained with Graff "C" stain

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  Bamboo pulp stained with Graff "C" stain

Resources and Citations

• Wikipedia: Bamboo (Accessed July 2025)
• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 83
• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
• Gordon Hanlon, contributed information, 1998
• E.J.LaBarre, Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Paper and Paper-making, Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam, 1969
• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
• Walter Rantanen. "Fiber ID Course." Integrated Paper Services. June 2013. Lecture.
• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
• F. Kidd, Brushmaking Materials, Bristish Brush Manufacturers, London, 1957
• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
• Tom Rowland, Noel Riley, A-Z Guide to Cleaning, Conserving and Repairing Antiques, Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1981
• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: wood: density=19-25 ppcf (0.31-0.40 g/cm3) - wax: melting point=78-80, density=0.961, iodine value=7.8, acid value=14.5, saponification value=43.4
• Marja-Sisko Ilvessalo-Pfäffli. Fiber Atlas: Identification of Papermaking Fibers (Springer Series in Wood Science). Springer, 1995.
• Guadua Bamboo, 2023. Guadua bamboo experts in the world's strongest bamboo. Link