Changes

*''Bambusa gigantea'' Wallich (1814, nomen nudum).

*Malaysia: buloh betong, bambu sembilang (Peninsular). *Burma (Myanmar): wabo, ban

*Vietnam: mạnh tông to.  Note: "giant bamboo" is also applied to ''Dendrocalamus asper'' (Schultes f.) Backer ex Heyne.

*Densely tufted, sympodial, giant bamboo. *Culm erect with arching tip, up to 30 m tall, 18-25 cm in diameter near the base, wall up to 2.5 cm thick, covered with a white waxy layer when young, becoming smooth, whitish to greyish-green; internodes 25-55 cm long, lowermost shortest; nodes not swollen, lower ones bearing aerial roots. *Branches arising from midculm nodes, comprising one dominant branch and several smaller branches. *Culm sheath caducous, 25-50 cm × 25-50 cm, widest at lower internodes, with dark brown hairs on the back; blade spreading, broadly triangular (on lower sheaths) to narrowly triangular, 13-38 cm × 9 cm, stiff, edges inflexed towards stiff acuminate apex, with scattered hairs adaxially, especially near the base; ligule 8-12 mm long, stiff, shortly fringed; auricles crisp, 1.5 cm × 3 mm, brown, not bristly. *Young shoots purplish. *Leaf blade oblique-oblong, 20-40 cm × 3-7 cm, glabrous, slightly rough, with distinct cross veins; ligule 2-3 mm long, irregularly toothed; auricles small and glabrous. *Inflorescence borne on a leafless branch with few to many pseudospikelets crowded at each node, axes and internodes finely hairy; spikelet flattened, 13-17 mm × 4-5 mm, consisting of 4-6 florets, the uppermost one sometimes imperfect. *Caryopsis oblongoid, 7-8 mm long, hairy above.

No serious diseases or pests are known to attack ''D. giganteus'' . The fungus ''Pycnoporus sanguinus'' and powder-post beetles may attack dry harvested culms. Submerging in mud for 1-4 weeks after cutting may give some protection against diseases and pests. Sometimes young bamboo shoots suffer from sap-sucking aphids (''(Oregma bambusae)'' ) which may cover young shoots completely and cause them to die. Spraying kerosene oil in soap emulsion can control the pest. Witches' broom may also occur in ''D. giganteus'' but without causing much damage.