Bamboo can be toxic!

From the Pacific coast, the Sacramento Bee tells us that bamboo can be a hazardous plant.

Bamboo is a plant which grows very quickly (it is the plant which has the fastest growth rate in the world). Sometimes it can be highly invasive, and has many different types by size, colour, shape and price and which flowers only every 50 to 100 years. It is also a very hardy plant which does not need a lot of sunlight or water and which produces 8 times more oxygen than a normal tree.

In terms of use as a food, some bamboo shoots are edible but need to be boiled or steamed to eliminate their toxins. In fact, uncooked leaves contain cyanogens which can cause cyanide poisoning.

 Reference

The Sacramento Bee, 2 nov 2009