This species is rarely seen today and can usually be found only in botanic gardens. On O'ahu it is planted at Lyon Arboretum, Ho'omaluhia Botanic Gardens and Waimea Falls Park.
Bamboos are giant members of the grass family forming dense clumps of many stems.
The stems are hollow with thin walls, and have internal partitions at each node. The Hawaiian 'ohe has attractive dark green young stems with thinner walls than the more commonly grown species of bamboo, such as Bambusa vulgaris. Hawaiian 'ohe was certainly used as a building material, as well as for making several musical instruments such as 'ohe ka 'eke'eke, or pounding tubes, pu'ili, split tubes which make a soft rustling sound, and the nose flute, 'ohe hano ihu.