A large stand of mature bamboo, Vietnam
Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product. Although some bamboos flower every year, most species flower infrequently. In fact, many bamboos only flower at intervals as long as 65 or 120 years. These taxa exhibit mass flowering (or gregarious flowering), with all plants in the population flowering simultaneously. The longest mass flowering interval known is 130 years, and is found for all the species Phyllostachys bambusoides (Sieb. & Zucc.). In this species, all plants of the same stock flower at the same time, regardless of differences in geographic locations or climatic conditions, then the bamboo dies. The lack of environmental impact on the time of flowering indicates the presence of some sort of “alarm clock” in each cell of the plant which signals the diversion of all energy to flower production and the cessation of vegetative mechanism, as well as the evolutionary cause behind it, is still largely a mystery.
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Photo credit: © Scenics & Science / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: bamboo, bamboos, bambuseae., bambusoideae, china, evergreens, family, family., giant, grass, japan, largest, mature, members, perennial, poaceae, stand, strength, true, versatile, vietnam
