Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of Dendrocalamus sinicus individual culms reaching a length of 46 meters, up to 36 centimeters in thickness and a weight of up to 450 kilograms. The internodes of bamboos can also be of great length. Kinabaluchloa wrayi has internodes up to 2.5 meters in length. and Arthrostylidium schombergkii with lower internodes up to 5 meters in length, exceeded in length only by papyrus. By contrast, the culms of the tiny bamboo Raddiella vanessiae of the savannas of French Guiana are only 10–20 millimeters in length by about two millimeters in width. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Dutch or Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay or Kannada.
Arundinaria is a genus of bamboo in the grass family the members of which are referred to generally as cane. Arundinaria is the only bamboo native to North America, with a native range from Maryland south to Florida and west to the southern Ohio Valley and Texas. Within this region Arundinaria canes are found from the Coastal Plain to medium elevations in the Appalachian Mountains.
Chusquea is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina.
Otatea, called weeping bamboo, is a genus of clumping bamboos in the grass family, native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia.
Actinocladum is a South American genus of bamboo in the grass family.
Athroostachys is a Brazilian genus of bamboo in the grass family.
Merostachys is a Neotropical genus of bamboo in the grass family. It is found in South America and Central America from Belize to Paraguay.
Myriocladus is a South American genus of bamboo in the grass family. It is found in the sandstone tablelands of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and northern Brazil.
Rhipidocladum is a genus of New World woody bamboo in the grass family). It found in Mesoamerica, Trinidad, and South America. The genus is characterized by 1) erect, non-pseudopetiolate culm leaves, 2) numerous branchlets arising in an aspidate (fan-like) array, and 3) fruits being true caryopses. The name is derived from the Greek rhipid meaning "fanlike" and clad meaning "branch".
- Rhipidocladum abregoensis - Colombia
- Rhipidocladum ampliflorum - Venezuela
- Rhipidocladum angustiflorum - Colombia, Venezuela
- Rhipidocladum bartlettii - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras
- Rhipidocladum clarkiae - Costa Rica
- Rhipidocladum harmonicum - from southern Mexico to Bolivia
- Rhipidocladum martinezii - Mexico (Chiapas)
- Rhipidocladum maxonii - Costa Rica, Guyana
- Rhipidocladum neumannii - Argentina, Bolivia
- Rhipidocladum pacuarense - Nicaragua, Costa Rica
- Rhipidocladum panamense - Panamá
- Rhipidocladum parviflorum - Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, Bolivia, Brazil, Panamá
- Rhipidocladum pittieri - from Mexico (Michoacán) to Panamá
- Rhipidocladum prestoei - Trinidad
- Rhipidocladum racemiflorum - Mexico from Tucumán to Tamaulipas
- Rhipidocladum sibilans - Venezuela, Guyana
Guadua is a Neotropical genus of thorny, clumping bamboo in the grass family, ranging from moderate to very large species.
Bambusa vulgaris, common bamboo, is an open-clump type bamboo species. It is native to Indochina and to the province of Yunnan in southern China, but it has been widely cultivated in many other places and has become naturalized in several regions. Among bamboo species, it is one of the largest and most easily recognized.
Arundinaria appalachiana, commonly known as hill cane, is a woody bamboo native to the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States. The plant was elevated to the species level in 2006 based on new morphological and genetic information and was previously treated as a variety of Arundinaria tecta. The shortest member of its genus, hill cane ranges from 0.4–1.8 meter tall with a habit ranging from diffuse to pluri-caespitose. It is one of only three temperate species of bamboo native to North America. Hill cane is common on dry to mesic sites on upland slopes, bluffs and ridges in oak-hickory forests, which distinguishes it from other species in the genus: Arundinaria gigantea typically appears along perennial streams, while Arundinaria tecta is found in swamps and other very wet areas.
Filgueirasia is a genus of Brazilian bamboo in the grass family.
Agnesia is a genus of herbaceous South American bamboo in the grass family.
Ekmanochloa is a genus of plants in the grass family endemic to Cuba.
Thomas Robert Soderstrom was an American agrostologist His special field of study was the grass family Gramineae or Poaceae. He was Curator of Grasses at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC for some twenty years.
Cleofé Elsa Calderón was an Argentine agrostologist.
Olyra latifolia, commonly known as carrycillo, is a species of bamboo in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs in Mexico, Central and South America, and in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a common species, up to 5 m (16 ft) tall, growing prolifically in rainforests, particularly near the margins.
Didymogonyx is a genus of South American bamboo in the grass family.
- Didymogonyx geminatum(McClure) C.D.Tyrrell, L.G.Clark & Londoño - Colombia, Venezuela
- Didymogonyx longispiculatum(Londoño & L.G.Clark) C.D.Tyrrell, L.G.Clark & Londoño - Colombia
Bambusa textilis, also known as slender bamboo, clumping bamboo and weaver's bamboo, is a species of bamboo in the Poaceae (grasses) family that is native to China. The subspecies var. gracilis is heavily cultivated in Australia.
