Second largest of the cold hardy bamboos (after Moso) this giant is impressive.  The ABS list this as reaching a maximum of 5 inches in diameter but I’ve measured a couple that were 5 and 1/2 inches.  The canes are straight and stay very upright. It is very thin walled so it’s great for crafts and splitting but not ideal for construction. This bamboo is one of the fastest to attain large culms and my grove only took about 7 years to produce some 4 to 5 inch canes.  The shoots are large and good to eat.  The starts for my P. vivax came from a grove in Springville AL.  The owner is not longer alive but when he was growing this his grove was not large but well groomed and almost every cane was 5 inches in diameter. One of the more impressive bamboo groves I’ve seen.