It is also naturalized in Seychelles, Central America, West Indies, Java, Malaysia, Maluku, and the Philippines.

[5][6] It is a tall, bright-green colored spiny bamboo species, which grows in thickets consisting of a large number of heavily branched, closely growing culms.

It reaches a height of 10–35 m and grows naturally in the forests of the dry zones.

Culms are not straight, but are armed with stout, curved spines.

Culm sheaths are dark brown when mature, elongated, and cylindrical.