Bamboo plants are among the world’s most useful and versatile plant. Unlike trees, bamboo grows at an astonishing rate of up to 2 inches per hour. This makes it the world’s fastest growing plant. In some cases, the bamboo plant can grow up to 4 meters in a day.

Despite common belief, bamboo plants are not trees. In fact, they are evergreen grasses. These grasses fall into 91 unique genera, with over 1,000 species currently known. As each species can be used for different things, this variety helps to ensure the lasting survival of this plant.

This fast growing rate makes bamboo plants invaluable in eastern regions such as India, China and Japan. As the bamboo plants can be used as food, wood and fuel, the fast growing rate makes this renewable resource a cornerstone of those societies. As bamboo, when properly treated, can be extremely durable and long lasting, it provides an easy solution to many problems.

One of the well known uses of bamboo plants is their cultivation as building materials. In construction, bamboo can create large, secure scaffoldings, provide a base wood over slower growing trees, and provide decorative value to both the interior and exterior of buildings. Other uses of bamboo wood include tools such as durable cutting boards, chop sticks, tables and other pieces of furniture as well as components in popular games such as go.

When bamboo plants are just sprouting, the shoots can be eaten from many different varieties. However, not all types of bamboo shoots should be consumed. For example, several species like the giant bamboo contains cyanide within the shoots. Cyanide can be toxic to people. Many types of animals thrive by eating bamboo. Most notably is the panda, which only eats bamboo stalks and leaves.

Although bamboo serves quite a few purposes in society, bamboo plants do not come without faults. The bamboo plant, for reasons yet proven by science, tend to have mass flowering and fruiting seasons. This is most notable in the Bay of Bengal, where the bamboo plants bloom once every 30 to 35 years. This mass blooming and fruiting cases severe consequences to human populations nearby. As the fruit falls to the ground, rats swarm. As the rats swarm, they bring disease with them and cause famine. This can lead to many human deaths, as there is little that can be done to stop the fruiting once it has begun. As the bamboo populations require the fruiting season for survival, they cannot be simply destroyed to prevent the rat swarms.

Bamboo is a hardy plant and can thrive in many areas across the globe. They are most commonly located in East Asia, although they can thrive in sub-Saharan Africa, North and South America. Bamboo does not survive in Europe, North Africa, western Asia, Canada and Antarctica.