Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex J.C. Wendl.

vernacular common bamboo — species · Poaceae

USDA: BAVU2
GBIF: 7661971
Rank: species

common bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) — Platephotograph · darilismelendez84CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid, Shrub, Subshrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Bambusa

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 4 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 17 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 60–100 in/yr
pH range: 4–7
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Bunch
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 50 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Flower colour: Brown
Fire resistant: Yes
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Indeterminate
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, bare root, container, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 4 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BAVU2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/7661971 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z