Its common name comes from the colorization of the margins of the newly sprouted culm sheaths, exhibiting a reddish stripe.

[3] Red margin bamboo is a cold-hardy, temperate mountain bamboo which grows and spreads quickly, creating a tall screen, and reproducing by running underground rhizomes.

Phyllostachys rubromarginata culms may reach as high as 4 to 9 m (13 to 30 ft), while in China, it is reported as high as 16 m (52 ft).

[5] Its high-quality timber is used in basket making, and has become a popular ornamental plant in North America.

[6] It grows wild in Guangxi and Guizhou as scrub and along banks of gullies.