Canonical correlation analysis was used to relate 17 soil-site variables to bamboo diameter, height, and internodal characteristics. The first canonical correlation was highly significant, explained much of the variance in both sets of variables, and the canonical variates made sense biologically. Surface soil depth, total nitrogen and percent organic matter had high positive correlations with the first soil-site canonical variate. Clay content (%) and cation exchange capacity were negatively correlated with the first soil-site canonical variate. Only 8 of predictor variables were considered relevant for predicting bamboo growth.