Phyllostachys assamica Gamble ex Brandis; P. bawa E. G. Camus; P. decora McClure; P. helva T. H. Wen.

Culms 8–10 m, 4–6 cm in diam.; internodes bright green, not white powdery, becoming yellow-green or green, 30–42 cm in mid-culm, initially sparsely retrorsely white hairy, becoming glabrous; wall 3–7 mm thick; nodal ridge weakly elevated, as prominent as or slightly more prominent than sheath scar. Culm sheaths green or green-purple to purple, with pale yellow or yellow-green stripes, usually with sparse, small, dark spots, distal margins purple, apex broadly truncate or slightly convex; auricles absent to 2, purple, falcate, small to large; oral setae purple; ligule purple, usually slightly arcuate or truncate, relatively short, broad, with longer purple setae, white ciliolate; blade erect or sometimes spreading in upper sheaths, yellow-green or purple-green, triangular to linear-triangular, margins proximally purple, nearly flat to weakly crinkled. Leaves 1 or 2 per ultimate branch; auricles small or obsolete; oral setae erect; blade 7.5–16 × 1.3–2.2 cm. Inflorescence not known. New shoots early May. 2n = 48*.

The inclusion of this species in the IUCN Red List seems difficult to justify given the broad distribution.

The culms are split for weaving mats and various articles.

Cultivated. Guizhou, Henan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Myanmar].