Shrubby to subarborescent bamboos. Rhizomes short necked, pachymorph. Culms unicaespitose, nodding to pendulous, to 12 m tall; internodes terete, glabrous, cavity not filled with pith; nodes not raised. Mid-culm branch buds broadly ovoid, bud scale open at front, branch sheathing reduced, several branch initials visible. Branches many and congested, to 25, subequal, with central dominant. Culm sheaths deciduous, papery, usually apically rounded, smooth inside; blade subulate. Leaves lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually small, transverse veins absent or inconspicuous. Inflorescence ebracteate, clustered racemes on leafy or leafless flowering branches. Spikelets delicate, 1(or 2)-flowered, followed by a sterile floret, pedicel short. Glumes 2, sometimes membranous; lemma longer than second glume, leathery, many veined, acuminate. Palea equal to or shorter than lemma, 2-keeled, obtuse. Lodicules 3, transparent. Stamens 3; anthers yellow; filaments free, long exserted. Ovary appendage absent; style 1; stigmas 2, plumose. Caryopsis grainlike, broad. New shoots summer–early autumn.
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