It's about 10 feet tall in height. At first sight, it may look like a wooden pitcher, but it's actually bamboo that came to Bangladesh's soil from Vietnam. This particular species of bamboo is called "Ghoti".

Like Ghoti, around 36 species of bamboo from home and abroad are being cultivated at the bamboo garden of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI) in Sholashahar of the port city. Among them, 24 species are native while 12 were imported from China and Southeast Asian countries, said officials.

The bamboo garden was built on a five-acre land in 1973. Apart from conserving bamboo species, the park also functions as a bamboo plant management, seedling production, seed conservation and training centre.

During a recent visit to the BFRI garden, this correspondent noticed a signboard that contains the names of all 36 species of bamboos in the museum, complete with their scientific names and origins. There are also nameplates in front of every species.

In the garden, some bamboos are thick, while others are twisted. All of them are distinct from each other in terms of their size and shape. There are "Kata", "Ora", small-sized "Mitinga", and "Mithia" bamboos -- 12-14 feet in height.

According to the global bamboo resource report published by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Bangladesh stands eighth in the world in terms of bamboo varieties. Almost 10 lakh tonnes of green bamboo are used for different purposes across the country.

Recently, four new bamboo species were added to the collection, said Dr Md Mahbubur Rahman, lead researcher of the silviculture department at BFRI.

He said bamboo gene varieties are preserved at the institute as bamboo seedlings are not readily available. A seedling is produced through cuttings of bamboo stalks and tissue culture, he said.

"At least 10,000 saplings are uprooted from this garden every year. The saplings are being used for creating gardens and forests in different parts of Bangladesh," he added.

Dr MA Gafur, former professor of the department of botany at Chittagong University, said the genetic diversity of indigenous varieties of bamboo is being preserved here. Of them, Bhudum, Muli and Baijjar have a lot of economic importance. The genetic diversity of these species are important not only for Bangladesh, but the world as well, he added.