Marty Durlin

Online Editor

Bamboos are part of the grass family, and estimates of the number of species range from 200-1,200. Some bamboos reach heights of 60-90 feet, with stalks up to 8 inches in diameter. Canebreaks, once common in the southeastern U.S., are native North American bamboos.

“Gregarious flowering” is common to bamboos: all members of a particular species flower, produce seeds and then “die in synchrony.” Bamboos produce only once every 3 to 120 years, creating seed crops numbering in the thousands. Between flowerings, they reproduce via rhizomes, which develop underground and send up shoots that emerge from sheaths to grow into stalks.

That’s all unusual, and bamboo is likely a great topic in botanical circles. But here’s the best part: Bamboo sequesters carbon dioxide at higher rates than an equivalent stand of trees and releases up to three times the amount of oxygen. The hairy plant collects dust and dirt out of the air. It doesn’t require pesticides to flourish. It needs only modest amounts of water. Some species can grow more than a foot a day. Its root system can stabilize hillsides and prevent erosion. It has a tensile strength of up to 52,000 pounds per square inch, stronger than steel (a bridge over the Min River in Sichuan has hung from cables of twisted bamboo for more than a thousand years). It can be cooked as food and made into houses, boats and furniture. The cloth from bamboo is as soft as silk, more absorbent than cotton, and contains natural antimicrobial agents. Parts of bamboo have been used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for asthma, kidney failure, venereal disease and cancer.

No wonder it’s in short supply.

But now…enter the cloned bamboo. A Washington state-based company called Boo-Shoot Gardens is the main commercial player in the U.S., producing 4 million plants annually after helping to pioneer a cloning technique which took years to perfect. The company has launched a crusade to curb global warming with bamboo, called “Plant-a-Boo.”