THE JOURNAL 



OP 



THE LINNEAN SOCIETY. 



MISSOURI BOTANICAL 



Note on the Uses of a commercial Cane termed '* Whangee," a 



Species o{ Pht/llostachys. By Jonx E. •Tacicson', A.L.S, 



[Eead December 21, 1876.] 



Under the iiameof "Whangee," a jointed bamboo is imported in 

 considerable quantities into tliis country, it is said from China, for 

 tlie manufacture of walking-canes. For a long time the scientific 

 name of the plant producing these canes was quite unknown ; 

 latterly, however, they have been attributed to the genus PhyU 

 lostacTiySj P. nigra being the species chiefly accredited with tlieir 

 production; on this point, however, there is still some doubt. From 

 whatever species of bamboo they may be produced, one thing 

 seems clear, that the " AVhangee " canes, as seen in trade, are not 

 the stems proper, as is generally supposed, but the under- 

 ground stems, the small circular markings surrounding each 

 joint being tlie scars whence the roots have been given off*, and 

 tlie indentations on the alternate sides the points from which the 

 aerial stems have arisen. The above-ground stems assume a 

 different character, being, of course, minus the root-scars, which 

 is a distinguishing mark and a point of beauty in the commercial 

 cane. Thus two distinct canes seem to be produced by the same 

 plant, one from the underground, and the other from the above- 

 ground stem. The specimen (exhibited at the Meeting), which is 

 from a plant grown at Chatsworth, seems to me sufficiently to il- 

 lustrate this. One thing is remarkable, that all the imported 

 " Whangee " canes are white, while the English-grown specimen 

 is black. This I can account for only by supposing the former to 

 be systematically bleached at the same time that they are straight- 



LJNN. JOTJKN. — BOTAKY, VOL. XTI. B 



^ 



