bamboo

A bamboo forest near Huangshan, in Anhui division, China. Bamboo forests like this once supported significant numbers of pandas in western China.

Any of a large group of giant grass plants, found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Some species grow as tall as 36 m/120 ft. The stems are hollow and jointed and can be used in furniture, house, and boat construction. The young shoots are edible; paper is made from the stems. (Genus Bambusa, family Gramineae.)

Bamboos flower and seed only once before the plant dies, sometimes after growing for as long as 120 years.