Bamboo– offers hardness, textures, and visuals that are not matched for architectural applications and items for daily use, such as utensils.
Bamboo are tall treelike grasses of more than 115 genera and 1,400 species. Bamboos are distributed in tropical and subtropical to mild temperate regions, with the heaviest concentration and largest number of species in East and Southeast Asia and on islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. A few species of bamboo are native to the southern United States (primarily Florida and some Caribbean Islands, where they form dense canebrakes along riverbanks and in marshy areas.
Bamboos are typically fast-growing perennials, with some species growing as much as 30 cm (1 foot) per day. The woody ringed stems, known as culms, are typically hollow between the rings (nodes) and grow in branching clusters from a thick (underground stem). Bamboo culms can attain heights ranging from 10 to 15 cm (about 4 to 6 inches) in the smallest species to more than 40 metres (about 130 feet) in the largest. While the narrow leaves on young culms usually arise directly from the stem rings, mature culms often sprout horizontal leaf-bearing branches. Most bamboos flower and produce seeds only after 12–120 years’ growth, and then only once in their lifetime; reproduction is largely vegetative. Some species spread aggressively and can form a dense undergrowth that excludes other plants.
Bamboos are used for a great variety of purposes, including human foods. The raw leaves are a useful fodder for livestock. The pulped fibers of several bamboo species, , are used to make fine-quality paper. The jointed stems of bamboo have perhaps the most numerous uses; the largest stems supply planks for houses and rafts, while both large and small stems are lashed together to form the scaffoldings used on building-construction sites. The stems are also split up to make buckets and pipes or are used to make furniture, flooring, walking sticks, fishing poles, garden stakes, and other utensils. Some species of bamboo are used as ornamentals in landscape gardens.
The above Wine Box is made from Moso Bamboo which is a timber type bamboo. Very detailed design with great options for laser engraving.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “bamboo”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/plant/bamboo. Accessed 21 January 2023. Updated by Milissa Petruzzello.
