Stems up to 10 ft high, and about 1⁄4 in. diameter, at first yellowish; the central hollow very large, leaving only thin walls; joints 3 to 6 in. apart; ultimately very densely branched and leafy towards the top, and forming besom-like masses. Leaves the narrowest in proportion to their length of all hardy bamboos, being 4 to 9 in. long, but never, so far as I have observed, more than 1⁄2 in. wide; secondary nerves two to four either side the midrib.
Native of Japan, where it is known as ‘Taimin-chiku’; cultivated by Messrs Veitch in 1877, and probably introduced by John Gould Veitch during the previous decade. It forms thickets of stems of great density, but spreads rapidly, and can be increased very quickly by division. In the earlier days of its cultivation in Britain I regarded it as a variety of A. hindsii, but in twenty years these two have assumed very different characters. A. graminea is a much more slender, leafy plant, hardier, and better for gardens; the leaves are only half as wide, and the secondary veins fewer. A few stems flowered in 1948 and others in 1965-7.