15 Bamboo Tree Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Who doesn’t know bamboo? Bamboo is often known for its tall and has the same size from bottom to top. Bamboo is a versatile plant for daily life.

There are many aspects in life that need bamboo to reach the complete one. From the textiles until the construction industry, you can see it now around you, everything is made from bamboo with different types or varieties. But, the base is the same, they are using bamboo!

If you are still not sure about the use of bamboo in daily life, you can take a look below about the facts about bamboo trees. Well, is it really a tree?

Table of Contents

1. Bamboo Is Not A Real Tree
2. The Smallest Bamboo
3. The Fastest Growth Of Bamboo Is 1.5 Inch Per Hour
4. Bamboo Can Produce 35% Oxygen Higher Than Hardwood
5. Bamboo Is The Only Plant That Survived During Hiroshima Bomb
6. Bamboo Is Not Only Edible, But It Is Useful As The Medicine
7. Bamboo Can Grow Under Water
8. Bamboo Cannot Grow In Antarctica
9. Over 1 Billion People Live In Bamboo House
10. The Biggest Variety Of Bamboo
11. Thomas Edison Used Bamboo To Test His Invention
12. When Bamboo Produces Flowers, It Is A Rare Event
13. Bamboo’s Structure Is Stronger Than Steel
14. The Dangerous Of Processing Bamboo For Textile
15. Bamboo Requires Zero Fertilizer To Grow

1. Bamboo Is Not A Real Tree

bamboo tree facts — Bamboo Is Not A Real Tree

Yes, it is right, Bamboo is not a real tree because this plant belongs to the grass family or poaceae family. Of course it is hard for us to imagine bamboo as a grass. But the fact is, it is a giant grass, the largest grass family. You can see bamboo doesn’t have any bark like trees. It is, again, because of the different family between grasses and trees.

2. The Smallest Bamboo

We often see tall and big bamboo, and wonder about the small bamboo that perhaps we can grow in our backyard. You can have Compacta. This bamboo is the smallest one and best grown in pots. Usually, compacta will grow around 2 – 3 meters with a very tight narrow clumping base.

You don’t have to trim it since it is best left natural as it is. Unlike other varieties of bamboo, due to its small size, it requires higher maintenance such as regular fertilizer and water in order to maintain a lush green state.

3. The Fastest Growth Of Bamboo Is 1.5 Inch Per Hour

Bamboo becomes the fastest growing plant you’ve ever seen. It is faster than eucalyptus. The fastest record is bamboo that can grow 1.5 inch per hour! It is very different from a baobab tree because that tree needs a year to grow 1 inch. That’s why people often use bamboo in many aspects of life. From the hardware substituting the hardwood until producing textile.

4. Bamboo Can Produce 35% Oxygen Higher Than Hardwood

When you think absorbing carbon dioxide is only done by a big tree, then you should understand that bamboo can absorb around 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. Then it will produce 35% oxygen higher than other trees. Therefore, cultivating bamboo is important for us because everyone needs oxygen for life. Besides, bamboo is very easy to grow too!

5. Bamboo Is The Only Plant That Survived During Hiroshima Bomb

The most tragic bombing in Hiroshima, August 6 1945 by the US is unforgotten. It not only kills the people, but also the plants. After the bombing, the government identify the survived living creatures from human being until the plant. Then, there is finding that bamboo is still survived due to the bombing. From this case, people realize that bamboo is very sturdy!

6. Bamboo Is Not Only Edible, But It Is Useful As The Medicine

Besides edible bamboo as the food source for some animals, this plant is used as medicine as well. In Asia, bamboo leaves are used to treat hypertension, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and many more. It is a traditional medicine that usually people will boil the leaves first before using it to cure disease.

7. Bamboo Can Grow Under Water

Yes, you can grow Lucky bamboo underwater or in an aquarium. But, one thing for sure, you cannot let the leaves touch the water because bamboo leaves cannot grow underwater. So, if you want to grow them, you can plant the stalks inside the aquarium and let the leaves grow above the water. Lucky bamboo will lower the nitrates inside the aquarium as well. So the fish might be happy with this plant as their house inside the aquarium.

8. Bamboo Cannot Grow In Antarctica

Because bamboo needs tropical and subtropical weather, this becomes the reason bamboo cannot grow in Antarctica, and also Europe. The five continents such as Asia, Africa, America, and Australia have native bamboo.

Yet in Antarctica and Europe, there is no bamboo grown there. The different weather, season and temperature makes it impossible for bamboo to grow.

9. Over 1 Billion People Live In Bamboo House

Due to how sturdy the bamboo is, it is considered as a sustainable material. It is estimated that over 1 billion people use bamboo to build houses. Also, the ecological and economical reasons become the main reason that bamboo is going to expand as the material to build the house nowadays.

10. The Biggest Variety Of Bamboo

It is called the biggest variety of bamboo since it can grow up to 40 meters (130 feet) tall with a diameter of 30 centimeters! Dendrocalamus sinicus becomes the impressive bamboo due to its size. The culm is not only big, but also robust. Therefore it is often used to build a house that requires sturdy and stability. This variety is native to Burma, Thailand, China and Bhutan.

11. Thomas Edison Used Bamboo To Test His Invention

During producing and testing his invention, Thomas Alva Edison chose carbonized bamboo for light bulb elements. Then, it is proven right that carbonized bamboo will incandescent for more than 1,200 hours when electrified. Thomas Alva Edison also bypassed some lawsuits since he chose carbonized bamboo for his experiment while the others are using carbonized thread.

12. When Bamboo Produces Flowers, It Is A Rare Event

Belonging to the grass family doesn’t mean no flowers appear on top of bamboo plants. Although it is a very rare scene that bamboo produces flowers, when it happens then you are lucky enough to see. Because the flowers appear between 65 to 120 years for the plant.

This unpredictable phenomenon also depends on the varieties. Because mostly once the flower occurs, the plant declines it that leads the flower to die.

13. Bamboo’s Structure Is Stronger Than Steel

Building the house or any construction can be done by using bamboo. It is not only sustainable for the environment, but also stronger than using steel. This is the reason that using bamboo becomes popular in the construction industry for scaffolding, and also for floors, furniture, and house walls.

Moreover, bamboo surpasses steel with a noticeable lead at 28,000 pounds, while the steel has 23,000 tensile strength per square inch. It makes bamboo become a new favorite material to produce hardware for many people.

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14. The Dangerous Of Processing Bamboo For Textile

Although bamboo doesn’t need pesticides to grow, processing bamboo for textiles requires complicated steps. It involves carbon disulfides and causes water pollution that poses a danger for the environment. This chemical process has a risk for human health. Also, textile or clothing from bamboo is more expensive than from rayon or cotton.

15. Bamboo Requires Zero Fertilizer To Grow

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant. Therefore, planting bamboo requires zero fertilizer for them to grow. Just let them be planted in the area they love, then they will grow perfectly. Especially for the Moso variety, its stem can reach 75 feet high. Moso is considered as the fastest growing bamboo compared to other varieties.