Culms 0.75–2 m, 0.4–0.7 cm in diam.; internodes usually green, ca. 25(–32) cm, with a red-brown tomentose ring below each node; nodes weakly elevated, supra-nodal ridge slightly more prominent than sheath scar. Culm sheaths striate, usually longer than internodes, upper portion loosely encircling culm, lower portion closely encircling it, thinly leathery, white tomentose, purple-brown strigose; auricles and oral setae absent; ligule truncate, 1–2 mm, membranous, brown hirtellous; blade deciduous, narrowly lanceolate, variable in size. Leaf sheaths leathery, glabrous, margin basally ciliate, distally glabrous; auricles rare, to 1 mm; oral setae very scarce, erect, white, straight, to 2 mm; ligule truncate or eroded, 1–2 mm, puberulent; blade broadly lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 20–46 × 4–10.8 cm, abaxially gray-green, glabrous or densely appressed-puberulent and tomentose along both or one side of midrib, secondary veins 8–16 pairs, tessellations square. Panicle 10–15 cm, partially exserted; branches erect, main axis and branches densely brown-puberulent. Spikelets purple-green, nearly terete, 2.3–2.5 cm; florets 5–15; pedicels 1–4 cm. Rachilla internodes 1–4 mm, white puberulent. Glumes 1 or 2, papery; lower glume 5–7 mm, densely puberulent, 5-veined; upper glume 7–12 mm, distally puberulent, 7-veined; first lemma 1.1–1.3 cm, distally puberulent, 11–13-veined, margins sparsely ciliate, apex very long acuminate to mucronate, callus 0.5–1 mm, white barbate; first palea ca. 1/3 as long as lemma, minutely white pubescent between keels, apex very shortly 2-cleft and pubescent; lodicules 3, oblong-lanceolate, ciliate, distally sparsely pilose. Anthers red, 6–7 mm. Ovary green, ovoid; style red, ca. 2 mm; stigmas 2, red, 3–4 mm. Caryopsis ca. 7 × 2.5 mm, style base persistent. New shoots Apr–May, fl. Jun–Jul.
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A bamboo. It grows 1-2 m tall. The stems are 4-7 mm across. The internodes are 25 cm long. It has the largest leaves of any bamboo. They can be 20-60 cm long and 10 cm wide.
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