Not many of us give a lot of thought to some of the little known and rarely used or referenced plants growing around the world, but in the case of the over 1,400 species of bamboo, it is worth taking a pause.

Did you know that in one recorded case, a bamboo shoot grew 47.6 inches in a 24-hour period? That is close to four feet! While this might be a rare example, bamboo commonly grows 12 to 18 inches per day. Even more amazing is the fact that in one growing season, it is typical to find 60-to-80-foot-tall bamboo stalks with eight-inch diameters—and this is in a growing season as short as two months!

A remarkable growth rate is only one facet of this most interesting and complex plant whose uses are extensive and far-reaching. Let’s take a brief look at some of the other amazing facts about bamboo:

Despite its strength, thickness and stability, bamboo is actually a woody grass, the most diverse member of the grass family.

Because of its hundreds of varying species, bamboo grows on every continent except Antarctica.

Certain timber bamboos have stronger tensile strengths than steel and better weight-to-strength ratios than graphite. So, in addition to being the fastest growing plant on earth, in some ways it is also the strongest! To prove this point, a suspension bridge built in China that is 250 yards long and 9 feet wide rests entirely on bamboo cables without any iron or nails in it.

Bamboo plays an important role in the world’s construction industry as well. An estimated 14 billion U.S. dollars per year in world trade takes place for its use in roofs, rafters, ceilings, walls, pillars and window frames. Over one billion people around the world live in homes constructed from bamboo.

Bamboo’s use in construction and its fast growth speed can also help alleviate the toll on deforestation around the world. Growing at approximately one foot a day, a stand of bamboo can replenish in about two months the same quantity of raw materials that would take decades to replenish for forests of trees.

Bamboo is a hardy species that can withstand varying environmental challenges. Its flexibility allows it to bend easily, even in extremely strong winds, while rarely breaking. And, amazingly, the root system of a stand of bamboo even survived the atomic bomb blasts of 1945 in Hiroshima to make it the first plant to return afterwards near ground zero.

Thomas Edison used bamboo in 1882 for the filaments in the world’s first light bulb manufacturing.

Many instruments are or can be made of bamboo; from bagpipes and organ pipes to flutes, drums, xylophones and others. Alexander Graham Bell even used bamboo for the needle in his first phonograph.

If we tried to list every use, product or application of bamboo, this list could go on for quite awhile. However, as you can already see, sometimes there is much more to the story of this or that plant or animal in God’s creation!