Bamboo vs. Cane
Main DifferenceThe main difference between the Bamboo and Cane is that Bamboo is a grass that is tall, hollow, with the absence of secondary growth, whereas Cane is the grass that is tall, flexible, and woody stem.

Difference Between Bamboo and Cane
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboo is the genera of the Poaceae family, whereas cane is one of two genera of the Poaceae.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboo has been originated from the Malay origin through the Dutch or Portuguese origin; on the other hand, the cane has been originated from the Akkadian origin through the old French word “qanu” meaning sugarcane.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboo is a long, hollow stem with scattered vascular bundles, while the cane is a long, flexible, and woody stem.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboo is native in the South Asian countries commonly; on the flip side of the coin, the cane is native to Western and Southern America.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboo includes three tribes based on the geographical significance as herbaceous bamboos, tropical woody bamboos, and temperate woody bamboos, whereas cane does not include the geographical tribes.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboos have broader applications in the building material, food, raw material, and paper-making; on the other side, the cane is used in the furniture, walking sticks, crutches, roof makings, and baskets.
Bamboo vs. Cane
Bamboos include the Giant bamboos, Bambusa vulgaris, bamboo blossom, etc., while cane includes the switch cane and giant cane, etc.
Bamboonoun
A grass of the Poaceae family, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, all of which are in the Bambuseae tribe.
Canenoun
A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof.
Bamboonoun
The wood of the bamboo plant as a material or cane.
Canenoun
(uncountable) The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae.
Bamboonoun
A didgeridoo.
Canenoun
(uncountable) The plant itself, including many species in the grass family Gramineae; a reed.
Bamboonoun
(slang) A member of the British military or British East India Company who spent so much time in Indonesia, India, or Malaysia that they never went back home.
Canenoun
(uncountable) Sugar cane.
Bambooadjective
Made of the wood of the bamboo.
Canenoun
Maize or, rarely, sorghum, when such plants are processed to make molasses (treacle) or sugar.
Bambooverb
(transitive) To flog with a bamboo cane.
Canenoun
The stem of such a plant adapted for use as a tool.
Bambooverb
(transitive) To paint (furniture, etc.) to give it the appearance of bamboo.
Canenoun
(countable) A short rod or stick, traditionally of wood or bamboo, used for corporal punishment.
Bambooverb
To penetrate sexually.
Canenoun
(uncountable) Corporal punishment by beating with a cane.
The teacher gave his student the cane for throwing paper.Bamboonoun
the hard woody stems of bamboo plants; used in construction and crafts and fishing poles
Canenoun
A lance or dart made of cane.
Bamboonoun
woody tropical grass having hollow woody stems; mature canes used for construction and furniture
Canenoun
A rod-shaped tool or device, somewhat like a cane.
Canenoun
(countable) A strong short staff used for support or decoration during walking; a walking stick.
After breaking his leg, he needed a cane to walk.Canenoun
A length of colored and/or patterned glass rod, used in the specific glassblowing technique called caneworking.
Canenoun
(countable) A long rod often collapsible and commonly white (for visibility to other persons), used by vision impaired persons for guidance in determining their course and for probing for obstacles in their path.
Canenoun
(uncountable) Split rattan, as used in wickerwork, basketry and the like.
Canenoun
A local European measure of length; the canna.
Caneverb
To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement.
Caneverb
To destroy; to comprehensively defeat.
Mudchester Rovers were caned 10-0.Caneverb
To do something well, in a competent fashion.
Caneverb
To produce extreme pain.
Don't hit me with that. It really canes!Mate, my legs cane!Caneverb
(transitive) To make or furnish with cane or rattan.
to cane chairsCanenoun
a stick that people can lean on to help them walk
Canenoun
a strong slender often flexible stem as of bamboos, reeds, rattans, or sugar cane
Canenoun
a stiff switch used to hit students as punishment
Caneverb
beat with a cane
Comparison Chart
Bamboo | Cane |
Bamboo is the perennial plant that is an angiosperm and hollow tube with the absence of secondary growth and dicotyledonous woody xylem. | Cane is the perennial plant that has flexible and woody stem originated from one of the two of the genera of Poaceae family that are Arundo and Arundinaria |
Family | |
Poaceae family | One of the two genera of the Poaceae family |
Origin | |
Malay through Dutch or Portuguese | Akkadian through French |
Occurrence | |
South Asia | West and South America |
Examples | |
Giant Bamboos, Bamboo blossom, Bambusa vulgaris | Switch cane, Giant cane |
Uses | |
Building materials, food, raw material, paper-making | Furniture, baskets, walking sticks, roof making |
Bamboo vs. Cane
The word “Bamboo” has been originated from the Malay origin through Dutch or Portuguese languages; on the other hand, the word “cane” has been originated from the Akkadian origin from the word “qanu” meaning tube through the old French cane.
Bamboo is a grass that belongs to Bambusa genera of the Poaceae family, whereas cane is also a grass that belongs to two genera of Poaceae family as Arundo and Arundinaria. Bamboo is taller and commonly grows in the South Asian countries and exhibits the diversity of more than 1462 species and 115 genera, which are known; on the flip side, the cane is native to Western and Southern America.
Bamboo is one of the grass that belongs to the Poaceae family gives rise to tallest grasses such as giant bamboos, while the cane is the grass that also belongs to the Poaceae family gives rise to flexible, woody stalked grasses. Bamboos are found to exists in the warm, tropical, and temperate regions giving stems of geographical significance, whereas cane is found to exists in the South and West America in different temperate regions.
Bamboos are widely being used in the building material, livestock feeder, food, and in paper making; on the other side, the cane is used in the decorative applications such as furniture, chairs, baskets, and most commonly for walking sticks.
What is Bamboo?
Bamboo belongs to the grass family of plants Poaceae family. It is a perennial plant that lives for more than two years. It is angiosperm. The word “Bamboo” has been originated from the Malay origin through the Dutch or Portuguese languages. They are native to South Asian countries in the climate of warm and moist tropical to the temperate regions of the Earth. They are also known to found in the cold mountainous to highland forests. The presence of the Bracteate feature, which is the association of reproductive structure with the modified leaf, has made it the ancient and primitive grass.
Bamboo has the vascular bundles in scattered form in stem with no growth rings and sapwood. The internodal regions in the stem are hollow as in some other grasses. In the inflorescence, three spikelets, three stigmata, and six stamens are present. They are considered to be the fastest-growing plants as they can grow at a rate of 36 inches per day like Giant Bamboos are the tallest grass plants. Secondary growth and dicotyledonous woody xylem are absent in bamboos. Bamboos serve as the building material, food (as seeds and young shoots), and raw material (for livestock feeder), and paper-making commonly. Based on geographical importance, they have been classified into tribes.
Tribes of Bamboo
- Herbaceous Bamboos: They are herbaceous and don’t have a woody stem.
- Tropical Woody Bamboos: They include woody bamboos from the tropical regions such as giant bamboos as well.
- Temperate Woody Bamboos: They are woody bamboos from warm temperate regions.
What is Cane?
Cane is also a perennial plant like bamboo and is grass. Cane is somewhat flexible and woody stems. It is obtained after peeling the vine. The word cane has originated from the Akkadian origin as a “qanu” meaning tube or reed through the old French cane meaning “sugarcane.” The cane belongs to one of the two genera of the Poaceae family that are Arundo and Arundinaria.
Cane is like hard stem tule that is native to North America, found in Western and Southern America. The word cane describes the different terms such as baskets of North America, furniture of wicker, cane working, etc. The examples of cane include the Switch cane and Giant cane.
Applications
Cane has found broader applications depending on the strength of cane, in various fields. In older times, it was used for baskets, furniture, roofs making. Now, the cane is commonly used in the making of walking sticks and crutches. In modern applications, it is useful for making differently designed chairs, tables, and a variety of furniture in houses, offices, and at various places.
ConclusionBamboo is long, hollow, perennial, angiosperms with scattered vascular bundles, whereas cane is the perennial, long, flexible, and woody stem, both are belonging to Poaceae family.