356 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



often been alluded to. The usual period during 

 which they attain their full height varies between 

 two and three months. A bamboo in a hothouse in 

 Glasgow was seen to grow one foot in twenty-four 

 hours. Mr. Fortune made various measurements of 

 the growth of bamboos in the Chinese jungles, and 

 has reported the growth to have been from two to two 

 and a half feet in twenty-four hours, with the greatest 

 growth during the night. The culms, or stems, are 

 hollow, like a reed, with joints at regular distances, 

 so that, except for size, they would be accepted as 

 reeds. Cut off at the joints they are convertible into 

 kitchen utensils, some being large enough for pails ; 

 and when pierced through at the joints, so as to 

 form continuous pipes, they are employed as aque- 

 ducts. Only those who have visited India, China, 

 or Malayan countries could imagine the innumerable 

 uses to which these gigantic grasses are applied. 



Palms are tropical trees of a peculiar growth, having 

 usually a single erect stem without branches, only 

 one or two species ever producing a branch. In 

 appearance, with their large expanded fronds, or 

 leaves, they have but little in common with ordinary 

 trees. Some of the palms attain to a considerable 

 size, although not comparable with the big trees of 

 California or Australia, yet not less remarkable when 

 their structure is taken into account. It is, however, 

 the leaves to which we would allude as especially 



