Common bamboo

Common bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) is a large bamboo of the grass family (Poaceae) with a sympodial (clumping) rhizome system; culms are woody, 10–20 m tall and 5–10 cm across, thick-walled and clearly noded. Young culms carry short white hairs, later smooth and glossy; colour is green or bright yellow, and cv. Vittata has striking yellow-and-green stripes along the culm. Leaves are narrow lanceolate with parallel veins, 10–25 cm long, thick and tough, with stiff-hairy sheaths. Young shoots sprout from the rhizomes in the rainy season, plump and edible as a vegetable. Flowering is rare (cycles may be 20–60 years); the flowers form terminal panicles bearing small rice-like grains.

Golden bamboo originates from tropical Asia, possibly Southeast Asia; today it is grown across the tropics and subtropics and was introduced to the Americas and Africa from the 17th century. In Vietnam it grows everywhere — along rivers, pond banks and in gardens, forming classic village hedges ('luy tre lang'); the culms build houses, scaffolding, fences, chopsticks, baskets and bamboo crafts, and make bamboo charcoal; young shoots are boiled, stir-fried, souped or pickled; leaves wrap cakes (banh tet, southern banh chung), thatch roofs and make farm tools. Bamboo grows fast, holds soil against erosion and absorbs carbon; the ornamental cvs Vittata and Wamin are popular for landscaping.