Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.
- Bruce Lee

 

Currently there are some 1250 known species of bamboo. It is one of the fastest growing woody plants on this planet. It grows one third faster than the fastest growing tree. Some species can grow up to 1 meter per day. One can almost "watch it grow".

From the pine tree
Learn of the pine tree.
And from the bamboo
of the bamboo.
- Basho

Bamboo Flowers
Usually bamboos flower only once in their lifetime and die after bearing fruit. Some species can also flower annually without dying. However flowering is a great strain on the plant and most species flower only once every 50-120 years. When they do, it is usually followed either by slow growth for several years or massive dieback. A few species flower en masse no matter their location and climate, synchronizing their dieback/suicide across oceans and continents. The individual flowers are formed from ears and panicles and measure only a few millimeters. The bamboos normally flower in the last months of a year and seeds mature at the beginning of the next year.

All bamboo fruits are edible. The majority of bamboo species produce ripe fruits only rarely. Most fruits falls to the ground before ripening. The ability of the seeds to germinate is very low. To cultivate artificially the bamboo is surer and much quicker consequently.

 

Oak tree very hard and stable
bamboo flexible not stable
Yet a strong wind blows an oak tree down
while a bamboo tree bend- retracts
Then springs back stronger
- Chinese Proverb

 

 

 

 

Download a PDF file with detailed instructions for how to make bamboo flutes.

For those of you who can't grow your own bamboo, or don't have access to any poles to make flutes, you can find some source at:
American Bamboo

 

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