Dendrocalamus asper aka Giant Bamboo

Dendrocalamus asper is a large bamboo in the grass family. It stays green all year. Common names include giant bamboo, dragon bamboo and sweet bamboo. Kew gives its native range as Bangladesh to Taiwan and Malesia. Growers plant it across much of tropical Asia. They grow it for food and building poles. Garden sources leave its true wild habitat unclear.

This bamboo grows fast and forms dense clumps. Its woody stems stand upright. Short, thick rhizomes, or underground stems, support each clump. Garden profiles list a height of 49 feet [15 metres]. They give a spread of about 16 feet [5 metres]. Other accounts give heights of 66–98 feet [20–30 metres]. Stems can reach 0.26–0.66 feet [0.08–0.20 metres] across. Fine brown hairs cover young growth. The nodes, or stem joints, swell and can grow aerial roots. Branches grow from nodes higher on the stems. Wind spreads the pollen. Plants can use their own pollen to set seed.

It suits warm, moist sites in tropical and subtropical zones. It needs sun and will not grow in shade. It prefers moist soil that drains well. The soil should have at least a fair supply of nutrients. It accepts sand, loam and clay, but prefers heavier soil. It copes with a wide range of soil pH. It grows best with average daytime warmth of 20–27°C. It prefers annual rainfall of 1,800–3,600 millimetres. PFAF lists USDA zones 10–12. This hardiness range suits warm climates.

The stems have thick walls and yield strong, long-lasting material. People use them to build houses and bridges. They also make furniture, boards, tools and musical instruments. Hollow stem sections serve as water vessels and cooking pots. Other listed uses include paper, biomass and feed for livestock. Its great size and dense growth shape its garden form. PFAF notes that it draws wildlife. It also lists no weed potential.

People eat the young shoots and stems when cooked. Shoots picked before they break through the soil taste sweet. At that stage, they are tender too. People eat them as vegetables or pickle them for storage. Thin strips can replace macaroni in soup. The sources report no known hazards or uses as medicine. Growers can raise plants from seed or divide them through cuttings. They can use rhizome, stem and branch cuttings to grow more plants. Young plants may stay short for several years. They then start to make taller stems.