2. Arundinaria subg. Sarocalamus (Stapleton) D. Z. Li, Novon. 15: 600. 2005.
冷箭竹亚属 leng jian zhu ya shu
Sarocalamus Stapleton, Novon 14: 346. 2004.
Small subalpine bamboos. Culms 1–3 m tall; internodes terete, smooth; nodes not swollen; supra-nodal ridge well developed. Branch buds on promontory; prophyll keels delicate, slightly ciliate. Branches initially 1–3, very erect, appressed, grooved, basal internodes progressively longer, often all long, lateral branching often distant from culm; complement proliferating to become broomlike. Leaf blade pale, linear-lanceolate, thin, matte, less than 12 cm. Inflorescence initially terminal or lateral to leafy branches, later in leafless branch complements; branches very erect, appressed, glabrous, branching subtended by long hairs, not pulvinate; glumes 1 or 2, both small, lower glume usually very small, usually distant from lower lemma, with vestigial remnants of subtended buds; palea keels ciliate.
About three species: Bhutan, China, NE India, Nepal; three species (two endemic) in China.
Molecular evidence would suggest that Arundinaria subg. Sarocalamus is possibly phylogenetically more closely related to Phyllostachys, even though it is morphologically closest to A. subg. Arundinaria from North America and A. subg. Bashania.
