Rhizomatous perennial to 4 m high; stems annual, erect, greenish, bamboo-like, usually clustered. Leaves ovate to oblong, 15–40 cm long, 7–25 cm wide, the lowers surface with scattered multicellular hairs; apex acute, rarely acuminate; base cordate; petiole 1–4 cm long. Inflorescence axillary, flowers in dense branched clusters. Perianth segments 4.5–6.5 mm long, free above c. midway, green to pale yellow, glabrous. Nut 2–3 mm long, brown, glossy, smooth.
VVP, GipP, EGL, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz. Also naturalised NSW, ACT. Native to Asia.
Occasionally grown as a garden subject and has been noted outside of cultivation in the suburbs of Melbourne, Foster, and Beech Forest, but nowhere truly naturalised in this State (as in New South Wales).
