Dwarf Palm Bamboo (scientific name: Rhapis humilis Bl.): a clump-forming shrub, 1 m or more tall, with cylindrical, nodding stems and leaf sheaths covered with dense reticulate fibers in the upper part, which are hairy and light brown. Leaves palmately parted, segments 7-20, linear, with 1-2 ribbed veins, petiole about as long as leaf blade, thinner, raised on both surfaces, margin smooth. Flowers dioecious, peduncle and base of each branch subtended by a spathe, branchlets slender, branches variously covered with rust-colored scale-like tomentum; buds ovate, calyx cupular-campanulate, with untidy 3-lobes. Seeds globose, ca. 4.5 mm in diam. Jul-Aug. From S to SW China. Commonly cultivated throughout. (Overview photo 1)