Bambuseae

Definitions

A tribe of grasses, of great economic importance, including nearly 200 species in about 20 genera, of which Bambusa (which see) may be considered the type. They are mostly confined to the warmer regions of the globe, though some are there found at an altitude of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. They are gregarious in habit, and have woody, tall, and often arborescent stems, hollow between the joints, the taller species reaching an extreme height of 120 feet, with a diameter of 6 or 8 inches. Most of the species flower but rarely, but the flowering of any species, when it occurs, is usually general, and the consequent harvest of seed has at times prevented famine in India. The bamboos of tropical America belong to several genera (chiefly Arthrostylidium, Chusquea, and Guadua), some species attaining nearly the size of those of the old world, the genus Guadua scarcely differing from Bambusa. Several of the Indian genera are berry-bearing, the species most remarkable in this respect being Melocanna bambusoides, which produces an edible, fleshy, pear-shaped fruit from 3 to 5 inches long. The same species, as also some others, yields the tabasheer (which see), a secretion in the joints, mainly silicious, which is used as a medicine.

“The _Bambuseae_ contain twenty-three genera and occur throughout the tropical zone, but very unevenly distributed; they also extend into the sub-tropical and even into the temperate zone.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy"
“BAMBOO, the popular name for a tribe of grasses, _Bambuseae_, which are large, often tree-like, with woody stems.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy"