Bamboo - more properly; bamboos; because the botanical subfamily Bambusoideae is divided by scientists into more than 75 genera and over a thousand species - are giant; fast-growing grasses that have woody stems. Indigenous to much of the world; from tropical and sub-tropical to mild temperate regions; there are species native to the Americas; to Europe and to Africa. But the greatest concentration and most spectacular flowering of bamboos by far is to be found in the Far East and Southeast Asia. Pictures From Asia David Henley