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Culms 39 m tall, 14 cm thick, thin-walled, erect; internodes glabrous, substantially grooved above branches, apically terete, lightly waxy below nodes, green or becoming purple-striate to red-purple where exposed later; nodes with thin unraised initially puberulent sheath scar, supranodal ridge distinctly raised. Branches 35(9) per node at first, the central branch thicker. Culm sheaths coriaceous, basally very thick and smooth, often remaining attached at centre, glabrous but initially puberulent on the persistent basal ring, green with purplish streaks at first, margins glabrous, shoulders raised; auricles absent; oral setae absent or scarce and rudimentary; ligule ca. 1 mm, shortly ciliate, glabrous. Leaf sheaths glabrous, margins glabrous, shoulders rising; auricles lacking; oral setae 25 each side, weak, erect, 25 mm; ligule ca. 2 mm, truncate, shortly tomentose, shortly ciliate, external ligule very shortly ciliate; blades 25 each branchlet,920 cm long, 1.22.5 cm wide, glabrous, long-acuminate with a long fine tip. Spikelets sessile or shortly pedicellate, narrow, with 36 florets;lemmas mucronate, glabrous; paleas 2-keeled, shortly bifid; style with 3 plumose branches 2n = unknown. Name from the Latin fastuosus, proud, for the erect culms.
The most widely cultivated form of S. fastuosa has culm internodes that develop purple-brown colouration, and has very short branches, making it an erect and elegant bamboo, but it grows slowly. Cultivar Viridis has culms that remain green, and reportedly is more vigorous.
Semiarundinaria fortis, S. makinoi, S. okuboi, and S. yashadake are all quite similar to S. fastuosa, but their taxonomy remains problematic and they are currently difficult to identify.
Widely cultivated in Japan, wild origin not known, introduced to Europe late 19th Century.
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 "young branches")
 "older branching")
 "raised supra-nodal ridge")
 "exposed mature culms")
