Can grass grow like a tree and become as tall as 30 meters?

Yes, some varieties can.

The giant grass

Take bamboo, for instance. It may sound incredible, but the fact is that bamboo is indeed grass, like sugarcane, rice or wheat. It does not have a single trunk but a number of jointed branches called `culms,’ which grow from an underground main stem and form a clump. The culms are hollow and tube –like n shape.

There are more than a hundred different kinds of bamboo in the forest of south India, Assam and Bengal. However, the most widespread varieties are the male bamboo and the Thorny bamboo. Other varieties such as the Giant bamboo and the Golden bamboo are cultivated as ornamental plants. The tallest of the bamboos, the Giant bamboo, can grow to a height of 30 meters. Since its culms can have a diameter of 25 centimeters, sections of culms are used as flower vases and buckets. The golden bamboo looks beautiful with its yellow and green culms. Many types of bamboo grow rapidly, as much as 7.5 centimeters a day. Giant bamboos can grow up to 40 centimeters a day.

Bamboo forms ne of the most useful groups of plants. Traditionally their culms have been used in making huts, ladders, and bridges, mats of boats, bows and arrows. Many useful items like water conduits, pipes, umbrellas, mats, fans baskets are made with bamboo. It can also be used to make decorative articles, toys and musical instruments. Bamboo is used extensively in the building industry as scaffoldings, and for reinforcing concrete. Its industrial use is in the manufacture of paper and synthetic fibers like rayon.