bamboo plants of the grass family, belonging to the genera Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Giganthochloa, Phyllostachys, and others. Some of the several hundred species grow to 30 m (100') tall. The stems of all kinds are hard and tough: indeed, bamboo scaffolding is stronger, weight for weight, than steel. However, the very young shoots, harvested just as they appear above ground, are tender enough to be edible, and are a popular vegetable in China, Japan, Korea, and SE Asia.
Many, but not all, species of bamboo have edible shoots. Most contain prussic acid, but in edible kinds there is none or only a little, which can be destroyed by cooking. The species most commonly used in China and Japan are Phyllostachys edulis and half a dozen other members of that genus, plus Sinocalamus spp. Bambusa spp are also eaten. Herklots (1972) quotes an authority on Chinese bamboos as declaring that the shoots of Phyllostachys dulcis (pah ko poo chi, sweetshoot bamboo) have the best flavour.
