It is hard to imagine any other plant that influences the mind and the body more than bamboo.
The plant is intimately connected to the lives of people of many cultures around the world.
For ages, it has inspired music and poetry and many a painter has wielded the brush to bring out the charm
of the tall, graceful jointed stems and the feathery foliage. To biologists trying to unravel its mysteries,
it is still an enigma and a challenge.
The extremely fast growth of this tall grass is legendary. For a world craving for renewable biomass,
this group of plants comes as a boon in the form of energy plantations, paper pulp or as the newest eco-friendly alternative to timber. The strong and resilient stems had traditionally served the poorest of people in the construction of their homes. In modern times it has however entered into a new realm that of a versatile industrial raw material and of products with unique properties and range of uses. Bamboo is an important ingredient of the cuisine of a large number of people in countries of Asia. It is, at the same time, the food itself, the vessel that it is cooked and served in and the cutlery to eat it with!
