牛麻箭竹 niu ma jian zhu

Rhizome neck 7–14 cm. Culms 2.5–3.5 m, 0.8–1.2 cm in diam.; internodes terete, 18–25 cm, initially white powdery, yellow-brown setose below each node; wall 2–3 mm thick; supra-nodal ridges level or weakly prominent; sheath scar prominent. Branches 10–17 per node, purple-red. Culm sheaths persistent, triangularly narrowly rounded, shorter than internode, leathery, brown setose, margins distally densely yellow-brown ciliate, apex triangular; auricles absent; oral setae absent or several, white-gray, 3–4 mm; ligule arcuate, ca. 1 mm, gray-yellow ciliolate; blade erect or reflexed, linear-lanceolate, margins white-gray ciliolate. Leaves 3 or 4 per ultimate branch; sheath margins glabrous; auricles and oral setae absent; ligule arcuate or truncate, glabrous; blade narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–7 × 0.3–0.75 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 2- or 3-paired, transverse veins obscure, base broadly cuneate, one margin slightly serrulate, other margin smooth, apex acuminate. Inflorescence unknown. New shoots Jul.

* 2800–3800 m. W Sichuan.

This species is a source of food for the giant panda.