bamboos and weeds and a bummer ending

I always suspect bloggers who start their entries with "Time was when..." Anyway, word usage aside, the article from ENTREPINOYS ATBP is in praise of the lowly bamboo.


"Time was when the bamboo virtually lorded it over the whole plant kingdom. Considered as the world’s fastest-growing plant, it was the center of legends and myths. In Asian cultures, people believed that humanity emerged from the bamboo stem. In other cultures, it was a symbol of longevity, friendship, humility, simplicity, and a sacred barrier against evil.
To date, its pliant characteristic and tensile strength have made it into such an amazing versatile plant, offering endless possibilities to men — as weapon, medicine, shelter, ornament, food, furniture — even an earthquake proof material and of late, a protective shield against environmental hazards. Technically a weed, bamboos are also called as “the grass of hope.”

(As a rule, if you are not a botanist, never assume authority over the positions of species in the whole plant kingdom. I don't know of any scientist who has proven that bamboos lorded over the trees and the flowers, although it is considered the fastest-grown plant indeed. I like the way the writer builds the reputation of this otherwise ordinary plant, but his ending is such a bummer. A weed, by definition is any plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden. How can you praise the bamboo through centuries and across cultures, and finally declare it unwanted? Maybe you mean it is a grass, which is any plant that belongs to Family Gramineae.

Anyway, thank you for highlighting this wonderful grass of hope, but next time, please use the dictionary. Also, you may want to say "amazingly versatile", if you want us, your readers, to be amazed at the plant's versatility. However, if your intent is to convey that the plant is amazing, then put a comma between the two adjectives: amazing, versatile plant, or better yet, amazing AND versatile plant.