The long interval of flowering and seeding has made propagation of bamboos very difficult. Offset plantings are not suitable for large scale plantations. Attemps with branch cutting, layering, etc. for propagation showed low percentage of success. Tissue culture has yet to be tried.

The present study showed that rhizome buds are monoprimordial, represented by the cone of rudimentary sheaths only. The food stored in the rhizome and rhizomatous swelling is utilized by their lateral and terminal buds. The root primordia are borne outside rhizome-buds. The culm and branch-buds are multiprimordial. Each structure is similar to the rhizome consisting of root, rhizome and shoot primordia.

The number of primordial structures and their relationship with the breaking of buds, dormancy and continuous growth in various species of bamboos have been investigated, analysed and discussed.

In tissue culture the entire primordial structure might have to be used as a propagule unlike the use of only callus tissue as in the case of dicots.