Bambusa, Bambusa arundinacea, Bambusa tulda.

Bambusa. Gramineae.

In India, the Bambusa flowers so frequently that in Mysore and Orissa the seeds are mixed with honey and eaten like rice. The farina of the seeds is eaten in China. In Amboina, in the East Indies, the young bamboo shoots, cut in slices and pickled, are used as a provision for long voyages and are sold in the markets as a culinary vegetable. In the Himalayas, the young shoots are eaten as a vegetable, and the seeds of a variety called praong in Sikkim are boiled and made into cakes or into beer. Williams says: "In China the tender shoots are cultivated for food and are, when four or five inches high, boiled, pickled, and comfited." Fortune says: "In China the young shoots are cultivated for food and are taken to market in large quantities."

Bambusa arundinacea Willd. Bamboo.

East Indies. The seeds of this and other species of Bambusa have often saved the lives of thousands in times of scarcity in India, as in Orissa in 1812, in Kanara in 1864 and in 1866 in Malda. The plant bears whitish seed, like rice, and Drury says these seeds are eaten by the poorer classes.

Bambusa tulda Roxb. Bamboo.

East Indies and Burma. In Bengal, the tender young shoots are eaten as pickles by the natives.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.