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The leaf waxes of 23 woody bamboo species of three subgenera, Dendrocalamus, Bambusa and Dendrocalamopsis, from the Xishuangbanna tropical rain forest in Southwest China were analyzed by gas chromatography and coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The waxes of the Dendrocalamus species are dominated by C and C n-alkanes and their average chain length (ACL) has an average of 28.3. In marked contrast to the Dendrocalamus species, the wax composition of the Bambusa species is characterized by a broad distribution of major n-alkanes from C to C, greater ACL values (>29) and an enhanced relative abundance (>30%) of n-alkanes with a carbon number greater than 30. Unlike the Dendrocalamus species and the Bambusa species, the Dendrocalamopsis species do not have a distinct n-alkane distribution; in some species the n-alkane distribution is comparable to that in the Bambusa species and in others to that in the Dendrocalamus species. The lipid data suggest that it might be reasonable to classify the controversial Dendrocalamopsis group as an independent genus separate from the Bambusa genus. On the basis of their smaller diversity of the dominant n-alkanes and their lower ACL values, the Dendrocalamus species might be more evolutionarily advanced than the Bambusa species, with the Dendrocalamopsis species being at an intermediate stage. The evolution and classification of the woody bamboos inferred from leaf wax n-alkanes are consistent with morphological investigations reported previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]