Flora of New Zealand Series

Type species: S. albo-marginata (Miq.) Makino et Shibata

Short or, more rarely, medium-sized with monopodial rhizomes. Culm diffuse, slender; nodes ± prominent with conspicuous white waxy bloom just below; internodes hollow, terete, ascending. Culm-sheath persistent, < internodes, unspotted. Branches 1 at each node, about as thick as culm, absent from lower and most middle nodes. Oral bristles usually present and scabrid throughout. Leaf-blade large, distinctly tessellate. Inflorescence paniculate. Spikelets 4-10-flowered. Glumes 2. Stamens 6. Stigmas 3.

20-50 spp. in eastern Asia, the exact number varying according to the interpretation of generic limits. Naturalised sp. 1.

Although very few spp. of Sasa are cultivated in N.Z., they generally are amongst the hardiest bamboos, extending northwards naturally to extreme eastern Siberia and northern Japan.