BAMBOO 69 



dorsal raphe. Explosive capsule. Seed exalb. Chief genus: Im- 

 patiens. BH. unite B. with Geraniacenc (</.T.)< but the arrangement 

 of the ovule is that of Sapindales. 



Balsamita Desf. = Chrysanthemum L. p.p. (Compos.). 



Balsamocitrus Stapf. Rutaceae (v). i Uganda. 



Balsamodendrum Kunth=Commiphora Jacq. (Burser.). 



Balsamorhiza Hook. Compositae (5). 10 \V. N. Am, 



Baltimora L. Compositae (5). 3 Am. 



Bambarra groundnut, Voandzeia subterranea Thou. 



Bamboo, a member of the i3th group of Gramineae, char, by stems 

 that become woody below and often grow to great size. The trop. 

 forms usu. grow in clumps, which continually expand, the new shoots 

 appearing at the outer side ; the subtrop. and temp, forms are usu. 

 continuous in their growth. There is a big rhiz. below ground and 

 erect perenn. woody stems above, which appear in the rains (or spring) 

 and grow rapidly to the full height, when the scale 1. fall and the 

 leafy branches spread out. Growth is very rapid in Dendrocalanuts 

 giganteus Munro, reaching as much as 41 cm. a day (cf. Lock, Ann. 

 Perad. II. 211). Some climb. The height is often great, reaching to 

 1 20 feet in some forms. 



Some fl. annually, others at longer intervals, and some are like 

 Agave and Corypha, flowering only once, all together, and then 

 dying down. They fl. only when in full leaf, and as the infl. grows 

 the 1. usu. fall. The seedlings grow for several years without forming 

 tall shoots, producing large well-stored rhiz. They then send up shoots 

 increasing in length from year to year. 



Spikelets 2-co -flowered in racemes or panicles. Sta. usu. 6. 

 The economic uses of bamboos are very numerous, esp. in Asia. 

 The stems are hollow, with cross partitions at the nodes, and the 

 wood is elastic and very hard, owing to the deposition of silica in 

 the cell walls. The stems are consequently very light and strong, 

 and are also easily split. They are largely used in building, entire 

 as posts, and split as roofing tiles, while the houses in Assam, Burma, 

 and Malaya are often made of bamboo split finely, and woven into 

 a kind of mat which is fastened upon bamboo posts. Bridges are 

 often made of them, and they furnish water-pipes, water-vessels, 

 gutters, floats, beehives, walking-sticks, pipes, flutes, masts, furniture, 

 household utensils, agricultural tools, &c. The distichous bamboo 

 shoot, with the side branches cut down to about 6 inches, is used as 

 a ladder. Split bamboos, with the edges trimmed sharp, are used as* 

 grass cutters, and \vill keep lawns in good order. Finely split bam- 

 boos are made into mats, blinds, rigging, baskets, fans, hats, coarse 

 clothing, umbrellas, ropes, brushes, &c., esp. in Japan, where fine 

 work is done in bamboo. Paper is made from bamboos in China 

 and elsewhere. The stout stems of the male bamboo (Dendrocalamus 

 strictus Nees) are used for the handles of lances. The stems cut into 

 lengths form very useful flower pots, largely employed in tropical 

 gardens. The young shoots are eaten like asparagus, and the poorer 

 natives also use the seeds as food. In the stems of B. arundinacea 

 \Villd. curious concretions of silica are found, known as tabashir or 

 bamboo manna, used in the East as a medicine in many diseases. 



