378 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



to be used for baskets and ropes; certain species furnish food, the 

 tender young shoots being used as a vegetable. 



Bamboos are difficult to study and identify from herbarium speci- 

 mens because most of the species flower only at rare intervals and the 

 leaves furnish few distinguishing characters. But when the species 

 are examined as they are growing their distinctions are more evident. 

 One soon recognizes the different kinds by the habit of growth, the 

 size, shape, and color of the stems, and by the appearance of the young 

 shoots, which usually grow to the full height of the plant before send- 

 ing out branches, and which are covered with large characteristic 

 scales or bladeless sheaths. It is therefore almost necessary, in the 

 study of this group, to supplement herbarium work by observations 

 upon the growing plants. 



Aside from the bamboos the grasses of China furnish an interesting 

 field for study. From books and herbarium specimens one may learn 

 much regardi»g the identity of the species of foreign countries but 

 may be unable to obtain information concerning the habit of growth, 

 the habitat or conditions under which the plants grow, and especially 

 does one fail to form a mental picture of the grasslands or gain 

 a knowledge as to what species are dominant in a given region. Much 

 information of this sort was gathered throughout the trip. It is in- 

 teresting to find new species but much more interesting to determine 

 the identity of obscure and doubtful species described by early 

 authors. The Wilkes Exploring Expedition visited Whampoa and 

 made collections there. This place is about 10 miles below Canton on 

 the Pearl River and was in the early part of the last century the 

 anchorage for vessels trading with Canton. Since some of the 

 grasses collected at that time by the Wilkes Expedition have re- 

 mained obscure, a visit was made to Whampoa (pronounced Wampo). 

 From personal observations on the physiographic features and from 

 a study of the collection of grasses obtained it becomes compara- 

 tively easy to interpret the grasses of the Wilkes Expedition. This 

 is only one example of many similar instances. 



China is said to be a thickly populated country, and indeed the 

 cities and villages are very much crowded. The country population 

 is fairly dense in the valleys, which are intensively cultivated. But 

 one is greatly surprised at the vast stretches of unused grassland, mile 

 upon mile, on the rolling hills, uninhabited and ungrazed, covered 

 with a luxuriant growth of nutritious grasses. This condition ob- 

 tains not merely in the remote parts of the country but within sight 

 of large cities. There are many reasons for this, but one of the 

 most important is probably the prevalence of actual or potential 

 banditry. A herd of cattle on these grass hills would at once invite 

 the attack of robbers, and the rich man, the only one who could afford 

 herds, will not risk his capital. The small farmer of the valleys, with 



