Bamboo is a fibrous plant, and materials obtained from it. Bamboo grows into poles comprised of segments with hollow cores, gradually tapering to their upper tips. Leaves grow from the ridges at the ends of its segments. These ridges are distinctively dark in color. It can be found in widths up to several inches in diameter.

Commonly grown in many parts of Asia, bamboo has been used for millennia as a material in architecture, sculpture, furniture, and the making of a wide variety of implements, including brushes. Bamboo has also been an important subject for painters.

Bamboo's outer surface does not easily accept a stain, paint, lacquer or varnish. Bamboo has a certain brittle quality, with a tendency to split and splinter. Bamboo resembles rattan and is often mistaken for it.