The paper provides a literature review showing (i) the properties of bamboo and how it lends itself towards its use in reinforced concrete: Bamboo has high tensile strength, cheap, available in places where steel is not affordable, a renewable resource, and a non- polluting material, (ii) the limitations and the issues with using bamboo as reinforcement: bamboo’s low modulus of elasticity, bamboo’s weak bond with concrete, its durability inside of concrete, (iii) mechanical properties for different bamboo species: There are about 1200 bamboo species around the world with different mechanical properties, as a reinforcing material, species with high tensile strength and high modulus of elasticity are desirable. There are some data on the mechanical properties of few species in literature, the results vary significantly for the same species between different researchers, and this can be attributed to two reasons as follows: different testing methods and different properties of ba