It forms impenetrable thickets with densely clustered clumps with a large number of closely growing culms.

It is native to the Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, and Queensland.

It is an exotic species in Indian subcontinent countries, such as India and Sri Lanka.

Auricles are equal, small, and wavy, continuous with the blade, which is situated on top of the sheath.

In Indonesia, strips of the black bamboo are used to make window blinds and the leaves are used for thatching.