河竹 he zhu

Culms ca. 4 m or more, 1.5–2 cm in diam.; internodes initially purple-brown or yellow-green with inconspicuous purple stripes, becoming yellow-brown, tinged with purple, to 24 cm, white powdery, retrorsely setose especially below nodes, becoming glabrous or scabrous; wall 2.5–3 mm thick; nodal ridge elevated, more prominent than sheath scar; sheath scar initially hairy. Culm sheaths green to purple-brown, or distally milky-white with green veins and inconspicuous purple stripes, papery, glabrous or sparsely deciduous-strigose, sometimes densely pubescent at base, upper margins brown ciliate; auricles absent; oral setae absent or weakly developed; ligule green, truncate or slightly concave, 0.8–1 mm, with pale brown cilia to 2 mm; blade erect, green with purple margins, narrowly triangular to linear-triangular, flat. Leaves (2 or)3–5(–7) per ultimate branch; sheath initially purple, apically pubescent; auricles absent; oral setae erect; ligule purple-red, truncate, ca. 0.5 mm; pseudopetiole ca. 1 mm; blade 4.6–8 × 0.6–1.1 cm, slightly thickened, abaxially initially pubescent. Inflorescence not known. New shoots early May.

* Valleys, stream banks. Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang.

This species is sometimes planted along river banks to prevent erosion. The culms are used for fencing.