Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Bambusa

Genus of grasses

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated December 31, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Bambusa is a large genus of clumping bamboos. Most species of Bambusa are rather large, with numerous branches emerging from the nodes, and one or two much larger than the rest. The branches can be as long as 11 m (35 ft).

They are native to Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, Taiwan, the Himalayas, New Guinea, Melanesia, and the Northern Territory of Australia. They are also reportedly naturalized in other regions, e.g. Africa, Americas, and various oceanic islands.

01Species

As of December 2025, Plants of the World Online accepts the following 151 species:

Note: now placed in Pseudobambusa:

  • B. schizostachyoides Kurz ex Gamble, Myanmar, Vietnam, Andaman Islands

02Fossil record

Fossil leaves of †Bambusa ilinskiae are described from the Miocene deposits of the Carpathians. The fossil leaves of †Bambusa lugdunensis are known mainly from the Miocene of the Massif du Coiron in Ardèche, France, Miocene of Bełchatów in Poland, Middle Miocene of Austria, the Neogene of the Transcarpathians and the Pliocene of southern France. Findings of fossil Bambusa leaf impressions of Messinian age (ca. 5.7 Ma) from Monte Tondo in the Romagna Apennines in northern Italy, are similar to fossil †Bambusa lugdunensis leaves.

Watch videos about BambusaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bambusa”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.

Continue exploring

Related topics

Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia

One of the major early human migrations was the maritime Austronesian expansion into the islands of the Indo-Pacific, believed to have begun between at least 5500 and 4000 BP. These migrations were accompanied by a set of domesticated, semi-domesticated, and commensal plants and animals transported via outrigger ships and catamarans that enabled the early Austronesian peoples to thrive in the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia, Near Oceania and Remote Oceania, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands.