This study aimed to characterize structures, physical properties, and enzymatic-hydrolysis rate of starch isolated from bamboo seeds (Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens (Mazel) Ohwi) in comparison with that of indica and japonica-rice starch. The bamboo seeds consisted of 68.2% starch (dry basis, db), which was lower than the indica and japonica-rice kernels (85.1 and 87.1%, respectively). The bamboo-seed starch also had compound granules, with morphology and sizes comparable to the rice starches. The bamboo-seed amylopectin had a similar branch-chain-length distribution to the indica-rice amylopectin, and both had longer average branch-chain length (DP = 19.1 and 19.7, respectively) than the japonica-rice amylopectin (DP = 17.1). The bamboo-seed and indica-rice starches showed higher onset gelatinization temperatures (T-o = 68.9 and 71.9 degrees C, respectively) and gelatinization enthalpy changes (Delta H = 14.2 and 15.3 J/g), larger percentages of retrogradation (57.1 and 55.4%), but slower enzymatic-hydrolysis rates (50.6 and 46.3% at 24 h) than the japonica-rice starch (56.4 degrees C, 14.0 J/g, 11.4%, and 66.2%, respectively). The bamboo-seed starch displayed a higher pasting temperature but substantially lower viscosity than the rice starches, which could be attributed to its larger amylose content and smaller molecular weight and gyration-radius of the amylopectin.