Earth Healing with Bamboo   –  

by Adam Turtle FLS and Susanne E. Turtle

Edition 1-8; Originally Prepared* for the 25th Anniversary Conference of the American Bamboo Society--15-17 October 2004

The authors, with over 45 years of bamboo investigation experience between them, make a case for the prominent inclusion of temperate bamboos in Earth Healing scenarios for U.S.D.A. climatic zones 6-9 (extreme winter lows of -10ºFahrenheit [-23ºC] or above).

Abstract

In the tropics bamboos have a long tradition of more or less pan-tropical use. Temperate bamboos, despite being well valued and utilized in their lands of origin, have been much less broadly investigated and are too seldom considered for applications in other similar or compatible climatic zones. Previously most bamboo was wild collected and whatever species was at hand was what was used. Now identified elite species are increasingly being grown for specific qualities in both plantation and agroforestry type scenarios. The traditional uses of cut bamboo products have been enumerated often and are currently at well over 1,000. The "hightech" potentials are only now beginning to be explored. Many of the ecological services provided by bamboo plantings are well documented, if obscure. The authors, with over 45 years of bamboo investigation experience between them, will seek to make a case for the prominent inclusion of temperate bamboos in Earth Healing scenarios for U.S.D.A. climatic zones 6-9 (extreme winter lows of -10ºFahrenheit [-23ºC] or above).

The essential and salient fact is that bamboos can be used in any manner that tree wood can plus a number of additional applications utilizing its unique structure. Bamboos can do this while performing needed ecological services and with an annual yield (after establishment) on a short-rotation cycle of from one to five years depending on end use. From fuel to food to fiber, from re-bar substitution to dimension lumber (composite) to houses, bamboo can save forests and farms. It can shrink our ecological footprint, ameliorate the impact of our burgeoning organic waste stream, including that from C.A.F.O.'s (Confined Animal Feed Operations), and raise the water table while conserving and even quantitatively building new soil. Bamboo can do all this as it calms our spirits and improves rural economics. Perhaps bamboo could even improve national economies. Certainly, its many virtues are worth considering.

Preface

We, the human race collectively, and "over developed" societies in particular, are no longer living on the "yields" of natural systems. We have disrupted, degraded, and even destroyed many interrelated ecosystems to the point that a number of essential services have been marginalized or are no longer functioning. We are in what may be termed the "Esau Syndrome".

We are trading our (and, more importantly, our children's and grandchildren's) birthright for a "mess of pottage". We are not only eating our seed corn but also consuming &/or degrading the topsoil, the clean water, even the quality of sunlight needed to produce future crops for future generations. We need to somehow disassemble the prevailing colonial paradigm, the Euro-American "success" model. We may try to salvage, in a modified form perhaps, those aspects that are fair and equitable, but we must somehow replace our consumptive and competitive behavior with a more communally oriented, cooperative ideal – our children are at peril. Let us remember that war is the ultimate competition as well as our most disruptive, consumptive and polluting act. If we don’t reconsider and reform the fatal flaws in our current paradigm … then Cheney may be prophetic regarding the “endless war” of which we are currently on the brink. It does not have to be … if WE change. Preparing to use domestically produced bamboo as source material wherever possible would be a big step toward reducing the resource depletion and pollution currently fueling many global conflicts. Such a move would also help reduce our vulnerability from present and future resource shortages.

"We cannot change our behavior until we change our thinking and we will not likely change our thinking until we develop new attitudes – i.e. we need to be open to new ways with new options."

"Agroecology", "Agroforestry", "Alternative Energy", "Bioremediation", "Community- Supported-Agriculture", "Good Stewardship", "Land Reform", "Permaculture", "Plant-a-Row-for-the-Hungry", "Systems Thinking" – these are some of the newer "buzz words" indicating society’s growing awareness that the status quo ante is not sustainable. Each and all of the above concepts or disciplines have valid contributions to make in our quest for a more equitable and mutually viable future. However, for any or even all of them to truly reverse our social and ecological decline, we must first critically examine and where necessary revise the underlying attitudes and assumptions that led us to our current dilemma. We cannot change our behavior until we change our thinking and we will not likely change our thinking until we develop new attitudes – I.e. we need to be open to new ways with new options. The deadly combination of ignorance and arrogance implicit in our cutthroat competition and business-as-usual mindset is increasingly unsupportable. We need to look into our hearts and minds seeking to find a sense of unity, while realizing and acknowledging that we are all in this together. Only if so motivated are we likely to succeed in building a better future for our children. We can begin by becoming environmentally conscious and “voting” with our time (study, discussion, social activism) and money (what do you buy?... from whom? … made how and from what? … shipped from where?) Anytime there is a choice of materials consider choosing bamboo especially if it is from a source closer to home (shipping represents about 18% of the global use total and is very energy intensive!). If even Wal-Mart can “go green” by its sourcing decisions – can’t we do the same? Being a good citizen confers responsibilities as well as privileges. How about we start actually thinking about what we are doing? Also the consequences!

"...the bamboos, wherever climatically suited, possess a larger and more varied suite of benefits, uses, and virtues than any other group of plants, and bamboos lack many of the drawbacks and/or limitations that are found in other multi-use crops."

The above awareness came in a vision some 30 plus years ago. Implicit in that vision, was the awareness that all life depends on plants. So began Earth Advocate’s research into practical or applied ethnobotany with a focus on warm temperate climatic zones. In the late 70's on becoming aware that there were useful candidate species of hardy temperate bamboos as well as the better known tropical bamboos, we began to study whatever literature was then to be found while acquiring extensive hardy taxa for field trials in USDA zone 6 (winter lows to -10ºF., - 23ºC.). In the early 90's, with an established "palette" of over 200 candidate species and forms of temperate bamboos representing 20 plus genera, we began use and application trials. About the same time Earth Advocates applied for and received a special USDA permit to import new species and forms of bamboo for research purposes. A number of new species have since been introduced after completing the required one-year post-entry quarantine in the dedicated ‘Q’ house at EARF. There are many more desirable species and elite forms that are yet to be brought into the U.S. And given the increasing difficulties of acquiring and importing new bamboo taxa, this should be given a priority status as we can’t evaluate any new bamboo taxa until we identify, locate, acquire and import them. Meanwhile we have broadened our knowledge base by acquiring training in such ancillary disciplines as Erosion Control, Integrated Pest Management, Permaculture, Bioremediation, and Soil Science which has, of course, broadened the scope of our investigations into bamboos’ potential place in it all. Thus far, we are persuaded that the bamboos, wherever climatically suited, possess a larger and more varied suite of benefits, uses, and virtues than any other group of plants, and bamboos lack many of the drawbacks and/or limitations that are found in other multi-use crops – as we will seek to demonstrate here briefly.

The Plant

Bamboos are grasses, members of the Poaceae, and native to all continents except Europe where they were extirpated during a recent ice age. They belong to the super tribe Bambusoideae which is composed of both herbaceous and woody tribes. Over a thousand species representing 80 plus genera are currently known. We are here concerned with the largest and most widespread tribe, the Bambusae or woody bamboos, specifically, select members of the sub tribes: Arundinariinae and the closely related Shibataeinae (which might be termed the hardy or temperate bamboos) within which there are over 20 genera with 300 plus currently recognized species. These can vary from ankle high ground covers (many of which are excellent for erosion control as they have more mass below grade than above) to giant tree grasses of 20 meters or more. Bamboos' natural range is from 50º N. latitude in the Kurile Islands to 47º S. latitude in southern Chile and is found from sea level to around 4,000 meters. However, when introduced, many hardy bamboo species can semi-naturalize well outside their original ranges in areas possessing suitable climates and with a minimum of 75 cm (30 inches) of rain or irrigation available annually. More is better. The larger and most cold tolerant bamboos are primarily found in genus Phyllostachys, however, a number of other genera contain species with desirable characteristics as well. Many occur naturally as forest understory and/or as edge species, although most are heat lovers and quite tolerant of full sun. Actual height, diameter, wall thickness, wood quality, and frost tolerance can vary with species or even cultivar and, of course, site conditions. These factors need to be carefully matched for successful realization of both the site’s and the candidate taxon’s fullest potential. The annually updated Species Source List published by the American Bamboo Society (A.B.S.) on their web site www.americanbamboo.org gives approximate growth parameters, requirements, sources, and some of the uses for nearly 400 bamboo taxa currently available in the U.S.

"Bamboo is the ultra-green source plant

and even more realistically carbon neutral than tree wood."

Growth

Bamboos are the fastest growing plants on earth. Dr. Sadao Suzuki in Japan has recorded as much as 1.07 meters of vertical growth in 24 hours. Being grasses bamboos are extremely culture responsive, i.e. nutrient levels that would be harmful to trees only accelerate bamboo productivity and growth rates without reducing the wood quality. Bamboos are perennial and once established can continue to yield an annual harvest for fifty years or more before replanting. And being evergreen they photosynthesize sunlight into plant energy year round. Both cellulosic ethanol and bio-diesel can be profitably processed from Bamboo which is not as input intensive as other energy crops. The new shoots of most temperate bamboos emerge in spring at their finished diameter and achieve their full vertical stature in 60 days or less. At first they are soft, made firm only by hydrostatic pressure. To produce high quality “wood” temperate bamboos need to stand "on the root" for five (5) years to become fully lignified and realize their optimal potential strength. Tropical bamboos, with a longer growing season, mature in approximately three (3) years. Less mature culms can be used for biomass, paper pulp, weaving or anywhere compressive strength or stiffness is not needed. The bamboo grove’s ecoservices and ability to bioremediate compromised systems are a free, included bonus. Establishment requires five (5) to ten (10) years before first harvest, depending on end use, but is annual thereafter. Harvest can be selective, culm by culm on an annual basis, similar to "high-grading" a forest or rotated swath cutting with a mixed age yield requiring hand sorting for various applications. Yield figures are impressive. Being high yield along with bamboos’ low input requirements results in a very favorable “carbon footprint”, advantageous for carbon offset trading when “carbon disclosure” is a factor in source material selection. Bamboo is the ultra-green source plant and even more realistically carbon neutral than tree wood.

Benefits, Uses, & Virtues

Benefits or Services –

Bamboos' function in the hydrologic cycle is of particularly great value for future ecoservices applications as there is essentially no rain runoff from established groves except in the most torrential downpours. And since bamboos tend to be self mulching, there is no bare soil, consequently what little water does seep out of the grove tends to be clear. Thus, both natural and managed bamboo groves can minimize erosion as well as providing an ideal ground water recharge cover and/or watercourse protection. Tall bamboos on high ground comb moisture and airborne soil from the atmosphere much as trees do, but bamboos tend to have a greater leaf surface area. On flood plains bamboo culms slow the water and harvest silt. Their continuous high nutrient leaf drop makes them self-mulching and quantitatively increases topsoil while improving its moisture holding ability. Bamboos accumulate, improve, and protect soils as well as cleaning the air and raising the water table. And they can do all this on a diet of municipal or feedlot effluents or any nutritious organic waste thus providing a truly renewable and sustainable resource base. Bamboo groves provide habitat for birds, small animals, invertebrates, and fungi … and are a great playground for children of all ages. The ecology of a bamboo grove can be quite diverse. Even large animals will bed or seek shelter in Bamboo. Further, bamboo groves are the safest place to ride out an earthquake. Management strategies vary with type of bamboo, site conditions, and intended product yield or end use. Multiple use management is possible – i.e. shoots and poles.

Uses –

Historically, bamboo-based cultures developed not only in Asia but also in parts of South America and Africa. The pre-European Indians of the southeastern U.S. made extensive use of "cane" (Arundinaria gigantea), the largest of our native North American bamboos. What can't be done or made with bamboo might provide a shorter list than what can. For instance, symbiotic edible fungi can be cultured in the grove. The new shoots of bamboo are a healthy, nutritious and currently pricey human food. The foliage furnishes a very palatable highprotein feed (up to 22%) for livestock which must, of course, be excluded from growing areas -- especially during the shooting season. The cut culms are a good source of pulp for high quality papermaking and according to joint studies by the USDA, Champion Paper, Scott Paper and Auburn University, one species – Phyllostachys rubromarginata - can out-yield loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) 6 to 1. Bio-polymers (the basis of most plastic, formerly sourced from petroleum) for packaging (and other applications) can readily be processed from bamboo. The volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) can be recovered for energy production before pulping for paper making. Many of the more recently available species have not been evaluated adequately for either use or yield potentials under U.S. conditions. There are also a number of species not yet in the U.S. that may have useful attributes.

In New York state there is a 14 million dollar experimental willow (Salix spp.) plantation for co-firing with coal for electricity production. In NY willow is probably the best choice, but in both the lower Atlantic Coastal Plain as well as the Gulf Coastal Plain bamboos could not only out-yield willow, but do so with less input. Studies from trial plots in Germany, Ireland, and Brazil have indicated bamboo can yield a high BTU biomass for low emission energy generation. (Energy generation is currently the #1 source of greenhouse effect gases contributing to global warming. Deforestation is the #2 contributor. Bamboo can address both.) Up to 37 tonnes per hectare annual biomass production have been reported. Mature bamboo wood quality is similar to other medium density woods and is superior to pine in strength. Dr. Andy Lee of the Engineering Department at Clemson University in South Carolina has found that when sawn and laminated, bamboo can be used in place of tree wood in many applications. The sports stadium at Clemson even contains bamboo “re-bar” in its concrete work. When used in the round, bamboos' unique form and its strength to weight ratio offers many advantages both architecturally and in applications such as: water and gas piping for use in low cash flow remote areas, or even ganged together as stiffeners in recycled plastic encapsulated utility poles. When processed with borates in a modified Boucherie treatment, bamboo becomes resistant to insects as well as fungi.

Gary Young in Hawaii, working with woven bamboo mat impregnated with an organic epoxy and vacuum molded, found it could assume almost any shape, with strength and weight and cost comparing favorably to fiberglass. High quality fabric, both knitted and woven, has recently been developed from bamboo fiber in China and is currently available as various finished goods. At EARF we sleep on bamboo sheets (flannel in winter, smooth in summer), walk on bamboo floors, wear bamboo T-shirts and socks, and stand on a bamboo bath mat while drying off with a bamboo towel. We have bamboo tables and chairs. In the workshop the new “work-mate” has a laminated bamboo work surface. Bamboo charcoal commands a premium price for use in the food industry as well as in chemistry and medicine. In China at a bamboo expo several years ago, we even saw limited use picnic plates made of the naturally shed culm sheaths laminated and molded to a plate shape – not yet widespread, but undoubtedly less energy intensive than paper or plastic table ware. We also correspond on fine bamboo stationary. Bamboo cloth and knitted articles have a natural antibacterial property that increases their appeal. Bamboo fibers can be substituted for carbon fibers in some applications. Bamboo plywood or "plyboo" as well as bamboo O.S.B. or oriented strand-board and laminated bamboo flooring are now being marketed with demand outpacing supply. When used for durable applications, i.e. furniture, architectural materials, concrete reinforcement, etc., bamboos can provide significant carbon sequestration. Even when burned for fuel there is still a benefit in that it is contemporary carbon rather than fossil carbon which is released.

The U.S. currently has a tremendous negative balance of trade even as we import over 50 million dollars a year worth of bamboo shoots, poles and other products. We also have: massive unemployment, many abandoned small farms, devastated rural economies, overburdened land fills, organic waste disposal issues, receding water tables and diminishing water quality, severe soil erosion, material shortfalls, inequitable land distribution, worsening air pollution, etc., etc.

Our problems continue to worsen in large part because of our head-in-the-sand attitudes. Now, as our awareness of the interconnectedness of life on earth increases, we are hopefully closer to some sort of tipping point where we genuinely consider new options. Domestic production and use of bamboo could favorably address many of these interrelated issues; and if given check-off subsidies and incentives similar to the timber and/or mining and/or energy and/or agriculture and/or transportation industries, a "bamboo industry" could quickly become very economically competitive as well as both socially and ecologically beneficial on many levels. And if we also regionalize paired production and use we would reduce our vulnerability due to our currently overlong supply lines.

International bamboo trade is presently estimated at over 10 billion U.S. dollars annually.  Internal or domestic uses are estimated to be as much as an additional 50 billion U.S. These figures are for current use levels and do not reflect the potentials possible with new applications from bamboo substitution nor for use in new technologies. Nor do they put a value to environmental services or social benefits. As a quick growth, short cycle feedstock with multiple industrial applications, bamboo is peerless. And being a high-annual yield, short-rotation crop, bamboo could give small farms and rural economics a renewed viability. Projects like the Bamboo of the Americas (B.O.T.A.) (www.bamboooftheamericas.org) can be effective in encouraging the conservation of native habitat, which includes the native bamboos of an area, while offering profitable economic uses (such as construction and furniture, etc.) for low income areas. BOTA sponsors projects throughout the Americas so that farmers and rural communities as well as local and national governments will see the potential economic and environmental value of saving their native stands of bamboo. Margaret Cirtain at the University of Memphis in Tennessee and others are addressing canebrake (Arundinaria sp.) eco-system restoration in the Southeastern U.S. At Earth Advocates Research Farm in middle Tennessee we are screening and evaluating nearly 300 taxa of temperate bamboos. Hopefully, we and by extension our communities, will choose to encourage and support these kinds of efforts.

Sensibly grown and utilized, bamboo can greatly reduce our dependence on tree wood and to some extent it can substitute for and/or be co-fired with coal. Used to produce cellulosic ethanol, bamboo can reduce our need for petroleum. It is even used like mild steel for concrete reinforcement and "Ferro-cement" type applications. Best of all – with a bamboo plantation, if/when the economics of one end-use scenario becomes uneconomic, then the management strategy can be shifted to another end-use. For instance if the plantation is growing bamboo for bio-mass (fuel or pulp), a shift in management (mainly in harvest cycles and procedures) could position it for the OSB market.

Downside –

There are a few bamboo pests currently known in the U.S. There are bamboo mites (first described on the Gulf Coast in 1917), some bamboo scale (including armored, pit, and mealybugs), a shoot fly and some leaf rollers. Fortunately these are generally well integrated into the local ecologies and flare-ups are readily dealt with using Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.) (the Bio-Integral Resource Center website: www.birc.org) strategies and techniques. Also, what damage occurs is mainly cosmetic affecting primarily the appearance of horticultural bamboo plantings. Voles, chipmunks, and especially squirrels all have a taste for Bamboo shoots and are more serious pests for us in our bamboo nursery operation. It would be expected that bamboo plantations would share these problems. In the western U.S., problems with gophers challenge bamboo growing. As there will likely be on-going R&D if/when bamboo becomes an economic crop in the U.S., just so, these and other not-yet-known difficulties and/or potential limiting factors can be dealt with as they arise. Another bottleneck is the current low availability and relatively high price of the quantities of field ready bamboo plants needed to establish plantations; however, techniques and strategies are being developed to address these issues.

Virtues –

The seven sages of Chinese lore are said to have valued life in a bamboo grove as it provided the tranquility needed for their contemplations. Part of the explanatory rationale for this lies in the gentle susurration or white noise made by the leaves. In addition to inducing emotional tranquility, a virtue in short supply in our hurried and harried society, bamboo is intellectually stimulating -- as any child fortunate enough to have played in a grove can attest. There are also subtle symbolic attributes. Bamboo is known as "the gentleman", upright but able to bend and always willing to serve. Bamboo is hollow, lightweight and resilient demonstrating that mass and rigidity are not the only paths to strength. Bamboo is also known as "the brother," available to comfort or help. Its evergreen beauty and calming effect, where known, are highly appreciated. As a colony organism, bamboos offer a model of mutual support and cooperation, as well as multiple benefits to their "guests" and neighbors.

The Future –

In the 1890's the first modern (well, western anyway) wave of bamboo prophets put forth their vision of a bamboo sourced society. Among them in the U.S. were such luminaries as Frederick Law Olmsted who designed bamboo into the Biltmore Estate, the site of the first scientific school of forestry in the U.S. Thomas Edison's use of bamboo (selected out of over 6,000 materials tested) for the first commercial light bulb filament is well known. Others included David Fairchild, E.H. McIlhenny, Barbour Lathrop – all of whom subscribed to Ben Franklin's admonition that "The greatest service a man (or woman) can provide their country is to introduce a useful new plant." We believe that still holds true today, but we would add that besides "introducing" the plant, we need to actively explore its useful properties and promote its potential applications … again and again as necessary.

Most of these early visionary efforts came to naught, except horticulturally. This was due largely to Europeans (and we as their cultural heirs) lacking any bamboo tradition except in “the colonies” where it was viewed as a "native" resource. This obliviousness to the virtues of bamboo has been further exacerbated by our entering what might be termed a corporate neocolonial period of profligate resource extraction and wasteful exploitation. Now as our various follies catch up to us, we may at last have no choice but to reconsider and accept the manifold gifts of the bamboos. In the immortal words of the former comic strip hero Pogo, “Gentlemen (and ladies, ed.) we are confronted with insurmountable opportunities!” Worldwide there are pockets of exploration and research. Tissue culture protocols have been developed for a number of species. The recent discovery of induced in-vitro flowering techniques now allows the creation of hybrid forms with elite characteristics. New plantation management techniques and strategies are increasing potential yields. INBAR (International Network of Bamboo and Rattan) an NGO, which is currently headquartered in Beijing, China, provides an excellent service in coordinating/informing internationally in bamboo selection, culture, and use. These efforts are approached through publication of low cost handbooks and manuals as well as through consultation and the offering of workshops and training sessions. INBAR could use more participation from both individuals and organizations such as the ABS.

As a wealthy nation, the U.S. should be leading the world in research and information sharing to improve conditions for all people. So why is the U.S. still non-signatory to the INBAR treaty?  Also Kyoto? Why do we not have any government participation in bamboo research? And why is there such a strong restriction on the importing of new bamboo taxa? Americans can ask their congress critters or representatives. Bambuseros of other nationalities can query their governments about INBAR treaty participation. INBAR web site is at www.inbar.int. 

If we had just one George Washington Carver and some research funding, imagine what we could do with a naturally versatile plant material such as bamboo. Unfortunately, the U.S.D.A. bamboo germplasm collections are neither active in new accessions nor adequately curated, nor are enough climatic zones even represented. At present, we still have not successfully brought live plants of each potentially important species into the U.S., and as international tensions continue to increase and plant imports become more problematic – even travel is more complicated and expensive -- we need to find and acquire as many taxa as possible for future screening. We need to begin to redress this situation. We should also make promotional and research materials available to encourage university students to pursue a bamboo career. We also need more bamboo awareness programs in elementary, middle, and high schools – in the U.S. Carol Stangler (author of “The Craft and Art of Bamboo) and others have already begun some programs, and we need more – what can you do? More informed contact with other groups/disciplines/professions can be very helpful in raising bamboo consciousness – speak to your Rotary or Lions or other civic groups. We never know who may be listening or how it may affect them. Being exposed to bamboo frequently alters the worldview of those who experience it. Write articles for your local newspaper (do check your facts – there's enough mis-information already published!) Invite your local TV or even radio station to come visit and do a piece on your bamboo, be sure to mention the American Bamboo Society and call attention to bamboo's uses and earth healing aspects. If you are a college alumnus, ask your alma mater to include bamboo studies. If you've also been blessed financially, consider a contribution or scholarship earmarked for bamboo studies. Or with less expense you could donate bamboo books and/or an ABS magazine subscription to your university or high school and/or the town's public library.  Many Bamboo people just like the looks of bamboo, but we also have some awareness of its virtues and so we have important information to share. We need to get "proactive" in spreading bamboo awareness – and soon!

Conclusion –

"The temperate bamboos have gifts to offer, lessons to teach and a prominent role to play."

Growing bamboos can contribute to the desperately needed repair of vital ecological services.  As a commercial crop, bamboo has manifold agro-industrial advantages and desirable sociopolitical virtues, and all this while providing a soothing and evergreen beauty. If bambos had no directly harvestable aspect, they would still be worth planting extensively if only for their ecoservices. Fortunately we get both. If our often stated desire for healing the Earth is to be validated, if we choose to give more than mere lip service to our avowed goal of sustainability … we can no longer afford to ignore the many gifts and advantages offered by the bamboos. We need every ally we can find.

Acknowledgement of the cumulative negative synergies of our current extractive and wasteful practices would insist that we step off this treadmill of unsustainable economic growth which is made possible only by externalizing true costs, suppression of "others", not cleaning up our mess, etc. Perhaps then we can jointly and mutually begin an integrated and wholistic age of enlightened siblinghood. Toward and within this scenario we believe the temperate bamboos have gifts to offer, lessons to teach and a prominent role to play.

Talk is cheap. Let’s do something! And soon.

 *************

For permission to excerpt or reprint article, please contact Junior author at Earth Advocates Research Farm, Summertown, Tenn., USA E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

N.T.F.P.'s

*Core portions of this paper first appeared in "Temperate Bamboos; a non-timber forest product of great value" which was presented before the First World Congress of Agroforestry in Orlando, FL on 29 June '04.