A species found in evergreen oak and chestnut forest, and also cultivated around subtropical farmland. The culms can be up to 1.5cm in diameter and 4m tall, but they are usually much smaller in the forest because of heavy browsing. It can be recognised easily by the well developed and persistent leaf sheath auricles, with widely spreading bristles, and by the dense hairs on the leaf sheaths and the undersides of the leaves. It is found from 1,000m to 2,000m in southern and central Bhutan. When cultivated the main use of this species is basket-making, although it also provides useful animal fodder in winter. The culms are  not  very  straight  and  have  rather

swollen nodes and many branches, but the ease of propagation at subtropical altitudes makes this a very valuable species. This is a resilient bamboo which can survive on drier sites than species such as Himalayacalamus hookerianus, which could provide straighter weaving material in moister sites. It is planted in gullies and on waste land but can also be planted on terrace risers, where it is very effective in soil stabilisation. The traditional propagation method is very successful in this species, as it produces a large number of new shoots at a fast rate, and the rhizomes can be extracted easily.