Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl.

Culms to 3+ m from a system of rhizomes, forming dense brakes; sheaths glabrous or hairy, ciliate, truncate at the summit and bearing a few long deciduous bristles on each angle; blades 10–30 cm, usually hairy beneath, sometimes also above; aerial stems monocarpic, sometimes some of them flowering the first year, but others only after several years, then forming fastigiately branched panicles on the old wood; first glume to 6 mm, or wanting; second glume to 12 mm; lemmas acuminate, the lower 15–20 mm; 2n=48. Damp woods, wet ground, and swamps; Md. and Va. to s. O. and s. Ill., s. to Fla. and Tex. (A. macrosperma; A. tecta)

Forms dense thickets along riverbanks, in swamps and low woods. Found on all types of soil; at elevations from sea level to 600 metres.

The succulent young shoots are cooked and eaten. The seeds are eaten like wheat. They can also be ground into flour.

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings.