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107 Edible Bamboo Shoot Species: Attributes and Edibility

by Abdul Manan
Published: Last Updated on
107 Edible Bamboo Shoot Species

There are several species of edible bamboo shoot, including huge, round, hollow stalks with leaflike surfaces. Bamboo grows only in tropical climates, getting up to a staggering 100 feet tall.

Bamboo is classified as having sections known as culms and internodes, commonly known as nodes and internodes. The head portion (culm) is the main body, branches, leaves, and inflorescence. It is a hollow section of stalk between the nodes that often acts as an airtight surface known as the internodes, whereas it is a solid section-like area between your knuckles.

Various forms of bamboo shoots are eaten as vegetables in Asian dishes. Bamboo shoots are processed into various forms to make them easily accessible as meals. Moreover, they are also available in fresh, dried, and canned forms. However, it appears that different cultures have different taste preferences when it comes to bamboo shoots.

List of Edible Bamboo Shoot Species

Species  Origin Attributes Edibility
Acidosasa edulis China Yields up to 20,000 kg/hectare Delicious
A. chinensis Southern China with 1 species in Vietnam Are edible and used for papermaking and weaving Edible
Bambusa balcooa Female bamboo native to Northeast India Are edible and used as papermaking or wood chips. Good
B. bambos Southeast Asia Indian thorny bamboo Edible
B. beecheyana Southern China to Indo-China and Taiwan Large clump-forming bamboo Good
B. blumeana Indonesia and Malaysia Thorny bamboo Good
B. gibboides Southeast Asia, China Evergreen clumping bamboo Good
B. polymorpha Myanmar, Thailand, and Bangladesh Sweet tasting edible shoots Good
B. tulda Indian subcontinent, Indo-china, Tibet, and Yunnan Mostly used as paper pulp in India Good
B. tuldoides Asia, China, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar Erect, evergreen, clump forming bamboos Good
B. vulgaris Indochina and Yunnan province of southern China Open clump type bamboo specie Edible
Chimonobambusa communis China, Vietnam, Japan, Himalayas, and Myanmar Running bamboo with swollen node Good
C. macrophylla Delicious
C. marmorea Delicious
C. pachystachys China South-Central Leaf all year Delicious
C. puberula Assam, China, East Himalaya Medium size spreading bamboo Delicious
C. quadrangularis Rounded square culms Delicious
C. rigidula China Distinctive bulging nodes and shaped canes Delicious
C. szechuanensis E. Asia – W. China, Sichuan. Mostly used for medicinal purposes Delicious
C. tumidissinoda Used for walking sticks in Sichuan Delicious
C. utilis Good
C. delicatus China Delicious
Dendrocalamus asper Southeast Asia Good
D. brandisii Velvet Leaf Bamboo, Teddy Bear Bamboo, or Sweet Dragon Bamboo Good
D. giganteus Myanmar (Burma), Bhutan, China and Thailand Giant Bamboo or Dragon Bamboo Good
D. latiflorus Southern China and Taiwan Taiwan Giant Bamboo Good
D. latiflorus Southern China and  Taiwan Taiwan Giant Bamboo Good
D. membranaceus Southeast Asia White Bamboo Edible
D. strictus Southeast Asia and India Male Bamboo, Solid Bamboo or Calcutta Bamboo Edible
Fargesia robusta Clumping bamboo with shiny deep olive-green leaves Edible
Gigantochloa atter Malaysia Giant Atter or Sweet Bamboo, Good
G. levis Borneo, China, Malaysia Evergreen and sympodial bamboo Delicious
G. ligulata Malaya, Thailand Perennial, evergreen Good
G. nigrociliata Black hair giant bamboo, tropical bamboo Good
G. pruriens North Sumatra, Indonesia Perennial, evergreen, densely clump bamboo Good
G. robusta South and South-East Asia Giant clumping bamboos Good
G. thoii Southern China, Southeast Asia Giant clumping bamboo Good
Guadua sarcocarpa Good
Himalayacalamus falconeri Gold canes with multiple green stripes Good
Nastus elatus Delicately arching foliage Edible
Oxytenanthera abyssinica Sub-Saharan Africa Drought-resistant specie Edible
Phyllostachys concava China Edible
P. incarnata Southeast Asia Delicious
P. sulphurea  Evergreen Bamboo Good
P. angusta Stone bamboo Edible
P. arcana China Can grow up to 8 meters tall Edible
P. atrovaginata China, Burma and India American Bamboo: Have wax on the surface Edible
P. bambusoides China and Japan Giant or Japanese timber bamboo Bitter
P. bambusoides f. shouzhu Edible
P. bissetii China Dark gray-green canes Edible
P. circumpilis Edible
P. decora China Beautiful bamboo Edible
P. dulcis Massachusetts Sweet-shoot bamboo: Display cream-colored stripes Delicious
P. edulis China and Taiwan Moso bamboo, or tortoise-shell bamboo Delicious
P. elegans Culms are used as tools Delicious
P. erecta Edible
P. fimbriata Mexico to northern Colombia Green bamboo Edible
P. fimbriligula Hunan and Jiangsu of China Upright growth habit Delicious
P. flexuosa Spring Beauty Delicious
P. glabrata China (Fujian, Zhejiang) Woody culms Delicious
P. glauca Hunan Province of China Remarkable evergreen bamboo Good
P. glauca f. yunzhu Edible
P. glauca var. variabilis Edible
P. heteroclada Water Bamboo Edible
P. iridescens Middle to eastern China and Japan Fastest growing, and strongest bamboos Delicious
P. makinoi Southeast China Upright timber bamboo Edible
P. meyeri Hunan, China Evergreen bamboo Edible
P. mirabilis Edible
P. nidularia Hunan Province of China Tall and erect straight bamboo Delicious
P. nidularia f. farcta Edible
P. nidularia f. mirabilis Edible
P. nidularia f. speciosa Edible
P. nidularia f. sulfurea Edible
P. nigella Mediterranean Culm-sheath blade triangular Delicious
P. nigra f. henonis Hunan Province of China Black bamboo Delicious
P. nuda Zhejiang in east China Geat screening bamboo Delicious
P. nuda ‘Ink-finger’ Delicious
P. parvffolia Zhejiang Province of China Bamboo with thick culms Delicious
P. pingyangensis Forest Organic Sliced Bamboo Shoots Edible
P. platyglossa Jiangsu, Zhejiang China Thin walled bamboo Delicious
P. praecox Running timber bamboo with yellow clums Delicious
P. praecox f. notata Edible
P. praecox f. viridisulcata Striped green sulcus Delicious
P. prominens China Grow around 10 metres tall Good
P. propinqua Straight dark green culms Good
P. propinqua f. lanuginosa Delicious
P. purpurata Asia Super cold hardy bamboo Edible
P. rivalis Subtropical climate of southeast China Delicious
P. robustiramea   Distinctive grooves above pair of unequal branches Edible
P. rubella Hawaiian Edible
P. rubromarginata Central China (Guangxi and Guizhou) Red Margin Edible
P. rutila Edible
P. sapida Anhui, Gansu, Jiangsu Herbarium specimens of bamboo Edible
P. sulphurea f. laqueata Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi provinces of China   Good
P. tianmuensis Anhui, Zhejiang (China) Swollen culm-nodes Edible
P. viridiglaucescens East Asia Green glaucous bamboo Edible
P. vivax China Chinese timber bamboo Delicious
P. vivax ‘Huangwenzhu’ China Yellow groove vivax and in Chinese called “Huang Wen Zhu”. Edible
P. vivax f. aureocaulis Edible
P. yunhoensis Southeast China Delicious
Pleioblastus hindsii Japan and East Asia California Hardiest bamboo Edible
Sasa kurilensis Kurile Islands in Japan Northern-growing bamboo Good
Sasaella masamuneana Japan Sam Bamboo Edible
Thamnocalamus aristatus Himalayas Clumping Himalayan Bamboo Edible
Thyrsostachys siamensis China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand Monastery Bamboo, Thai Bamboo or Umbrella Bamboo Good
Yushania maling Nepal to Assam Arundinaria maling – graceful open clumper Good

Useful Article: Edible Bamboo Shoots: Grow Your Own To Add Flavor To Diet

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1 comment

esmeralda April 17, 2021 - 1:55 am

Excellent article.
I am a Japanese descendent and bamboo has been part of several dishes that my mom used to prepare.

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