Dendrocalamus strictus Nees

Culms 7–17 m, (3–)6–10 cm in diam.; internodes 30–45 cm, white powdery; wall thick, culm often solid. Branches several, main mid-culm ones 3. Culm sheaths deciduous, orange-brown, ca. 3/4 as long as internodes, thickly papery, margins ciliate, apex rounded; auricles absent; ligule 1–3 mm, serrulate; blade erect, narrowly triangular. Leaf sheaths initially sparsely hairy, becoming glabrous; ligule short, serrulate; blade usually narrowly lanceolate, 5–30 × 1–3 cm. Pseudospikelet clusters 2.5–5 cm in diam. Spikelets 8–15 mm, usually densely pubescent; fertile florets 2–4. Glumes 2 or more, 6–8 mm, long mucronate; lemma 9–10 mm, apex long mucronate; palea 8–9 mm. Anthers yellow, ca. 5 mm, connective apically produced. Ovary turbinate; style ca. 6.5 mm; stigmas 1. Caryopsis 6–8 mm.

A tropical plant. t grows in tropical and subtropical places. The best annual temperature is between 20-30°C. It can stand temperatures down to-5°C and up to 45°C. A rainfall between 1000-3000 mm is best. It can tolerate drought and does best with lower humidity. It can grow up to 1,200 m altitude. It does best on sandy soils with a pH of 5.5-7.5. In the Cairns Botanical Gardens. I

Young shoots are cooked as a vegetable or pickled. The seeds are also roasted and eaten. There is also an edible manna that develops on this plant. The roots are pounded into a powder.

Plants are grown from seeds or by splitting the rhizome. It can also be grown with difficulty from culm or stem cuttings and by tissue culture. Seed need to be planted fresh. They lose their viability is 3 months. Seed once dried and stored in cool conditions can be kept for 3 years.