30 JAPANESE BAMBOOS. 



.shoots is one of the prettiest effects imaginable. The species grows 

 occasionally over 30 feet high in Japan and specimens 5 to 6 feet high 

 are already found in England, where the species has withstood a tem- 

 perature of 24 degrees of frost or 8° F. It is not a common species 

 even in the gardens of Japan, and Mr. Mitford says it is uncommon in 

 England. Very young plants sometimes show only slight traces of 

 the variegation on the stems, but develop this character later. 



Mr. Tsuboi, who has the most exceptional taste in bamboos, and in 

 the dwarfing of which he is an acknowledged connoisseur (see PL VII, 

 fig. 1), suggested planting a mixture of this golden bamboo with the 

 black species, /'. nigra. As a rule, mixtures of bamboos are said to 

 be objectionable, but such a mingling of golden and black stems is 

 worthy of an experiment. 



Phyllostachys Aurea, A. <Sc C. Riviere. 



(Japanese names: " Hotei-chiku," " Horai-Chiku," or "Taibo-CftiJcu.") 



A smaller species than /'. mitis or /'. quilioi, but attaining in Eng- 

 land a height of 14 feet and a diameter of culm of over three-fourths 

 of an inch. In Japan, culms have been observed over li inches in 

 diameter. It is not a golden bamboo, as its name implies, its steins 

 being about the color of /'. //////'.v. The distinguishing characteristic 

 is that the first 5 or <! internodes near the ground are very short, 

 bringing the internodes, or joints, close together, often only a few 

 inches apart. These joints are not, as in /'. heterocycla, set at an angle 

 to the direction of the stem, hut are generally parallel to each other 

 and quite horizontal. Branch buds are variable in color, but pale. Mr. 

 Mitford remarks that this species should be planted in large, bold 

 masses for good landscape effect, for if single plants are set out they 

 send up shoots only near the mother culm and produce a switch-like 

 effect. The shoots of this species are edible, according to the Japanese 

 books, and are of even better flavor than those of P. mitis; but this 

 variety does not appear to be grown for food. 



Phyllostachys Bambusoides, Sieb. & Zucc. 

 (Japanese name: " Yadake.") 



The arrow bamboo is that of which the stems are still employed in 

 the manufacture of the line Japanese arrows used generally for archery 

 purposes. The plant is still a rare one in England, and Mitford says 

 that other sorts are sometimes sold by Japanese nurserymen under its 

 name. It is not very commonly seen in gardens, so far as observed, 

 even in Japan, and the arrow makers, it is said, get their main supply 

 of stems from wild plants. There are some of these manufacturers in 

 the town of Shizuoka, but the demand for arrows is so small that they 

 are doing a poor business. This species is distinguished from others 



