DIFFERENT SPECIES. 29 



Phyllostachys Nigra, Munro. 



(Japanese names: " Gomadaki," " Kuro-chiku," or " KurodaM.") 



The black bamboo is not as generally grown in Japan as the three 

 species just mentioned, but it is nevertheless an important culture. 

 Formerly more money was made out of it than has been the case in 

 recent years, because the foreign demand, it is said, has fallen off. 



It is a smaller species than the other timber sorts, seldom growing- 

 over 20 feet high and 1^ inches in diameter. 



The culms when young are covered with dark-brown to purple spots, 

 which spread as it grows older until the whole culm becomes dark- 

 brown, almost black, except just below the nodes, where there is an 

 ash-gray line. This dark color at once distinguishes the species from 

 all other Japanese sorts. Branch buds are brown, mottled with black. 

 There is a great variation in the intensity of this dark color of the culms, 

 and this is said to vary with the kind of soil upon which the plants are 

 grown and the amount of sunlight to which they are exposed. There 

 are, however, at least two varieties of this species, one with much more 

 intensely brown culms than the other. Mr. Mitford calls the lighter 

 sort P. nigro-punetata, and remarks that it is hardier than P. nigra, 

 but not so pretty. Light, hillside soil is claimed as bettor adapted to 

 the production of intense color than rich alluvium, and it is found 

 necessary to renew old plantations, in order to prevent the color from 

 fading out. 



This is one of the hardiest forms grown in England, attaining in 

 exceptional cases 20 feet in height, and it is certainly one of the most 

 decorative kinds. Nothing could exceed the delicate beauty of the 

 groves of this species which are to be seen near Kyoto. Their dark 

 stems, ash-gray nodes, and light-green foliage make them unique 

 among decorative plants. (See PI. I.) 



The uses of this species are limited to the manufacture of furniture, 

 numerous household articles, and fancy fishing poles, for all of which 

 these black bamboos are peculiarly suited. 



Phyllostachys (Jastillonis." 



(Japanese name: " Kimmei-chiku." ) 



The golden-striped bamboo is one of the most decorative forms of 

 the group. It is not easily confused with other Japanese sorts when 

 its characters are fully developed, for each culm is of a beautiful 

 golden-yellow color, striped with brilliant green. The leaves also are 

 variegated with stripes of green and .white. The contrast between 

 the golden yellow of the stems and the green stripes on the young 



«No authority is given by Mitford for this name, and the author has been unable 

 as yet to work out its correct name. The nomenclature of the bamboos needs work- 

 ing over. 



