Plants Mistaken for Bamboo

Plenty of plants get called ‘bamboo’ — but true bamboo is a grass, with over 1,400 species, and these seven aren't among them. Here's how to spot the imposters.

Lucky Bamboo
Dracaena sanderiana — not bamboo at all, but a Dracaena. The segmented stems fool people, though it grows in soil or water and hates direct sun.
Horsetail
Equisetum — a primitive spreading plant (a.k.a. snake grass or scouring-rush) with hollow, segmented stems and no real leaves. Bamboo-like, but not bamboo.
Giant Reed
Arundo donax — a towering perennial cane (20–30 ft) grown for biomass and woodwind reeds. Fast and corn-like, but a reed, not a bamboo.
Heavenly Bamboo
Nandina domestica — a 6–8 ft evergreen shrub in the barberry family; ‘sacred bamboo’ in name only. Note: it's considered poisonous.
Japanese Knotweed
Fallopia japonica — hollow, raised-node stems give it a bamboo look, but it's a knotweed, and one of the world's 100 worst invasive species.
Bamboo Palm
Chamaedorea seifritzii — a clumping rainforest palm to about 10 ft, popular as a houseplant. Looks the part, but it's a palm.
Dumb Cane
Dieffenbachia — a tropical houseplant with a straight, cane-like stem and alternating leaves. Tender (hardy only to ~41°F), so it's grown indoors.