Monday, September 15, 2008

Bamboo

Bamboo regenerates itself eternally. The life span of a single bamboo is not very long-about 20 years-but the grove stands forever. The fully mature bamboo sends most of the organic nutrients prepared by its leaves down through paths in the vascular bundles, which run vertically down the culms, to its rhizomes, which form the vast, complicated underground network that creates its progeny. New bamboo shoots are produced every year from these rhizomes, ensuring the survival of the bamboo grove.