BAMBUSA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



455 



The process is very simple. The plants 

 should be divided into clumps of two or 

 three culms with their rhizome, in order 

 to insure a new growth from the buds on 

 the internodes of the root-stock. If the 

 tufts can be lifted with a ball of earth, so 

 much the better. They should be planted 

 in beds at distances of 2 ft., carefully 

 watered, and protected by a top-dressing 

 of well-rotted cow manure and dead leaves. 

 With the same care they may be planted 

 at once in their permanent homes. 



Natives of the Himalayas. 



Arundinaria racemosa.— This grows 

 about 1 5 feet high in its own country. Stem 

 smooth and round. Internodes about 2 in. 

 apart, leaves 2 to 4 in. in length and 

 narrow, cross veins well defined. After 

 the trying winter of 1895, quite green 

 and fresh at Kew Gardens ; found at 

 an elevation of 12,000 ft. in the N.E. 

 Himalayas. 



A. aristata. — A pretty variety 

 of moderate size, w^ith purplish stems 

 and tessellated leaves. This latter 

 quality, also the great altitude at which it 

 is found in the North Eastern Himalayas 

 — as high as 11,000 feet above the sea- 

 level — indicates it as a hardy Bamboo. 



A. spathiflora, — Another hardy Bamboo 

 with tessellated leaves, from the Hima- 

 layas, where it is found at an altitude of 

 9,000 feet. Most of the specimens which 



1 have seen grown under this name in 

 English gardens are not the true A. 

 spathiflora. A. falcata and A. Falconeri, 

 though fine kinds in their native country, 

 are not quite hardy in ours. 



Natives of China and Japan. 



A. Fortune!. — Three plants of no rela- 

 tionship to one another are at present the 

 bearers of this name, respectively green, 

 silver variegated, and golden variegated. 

 As there is absolutely no similarity be- 

 tween them, I have re-named two of them 

 huniilis and auricoma., leaving the name 

 Fortunei to the silver-striped species 

 which has the prior claim to the title. 



A. humilis. — A green species, about 



2 ft. to 3 ft. high, with round and green 

 stem, bright evergreen leaves smooth on 

 both sides, 45^ in. long, three-quarters 

 of an inch broad, and tapering to a 

 point. A very pretty plant to form a car- 

 pet, or isolated group near rocks. Syn. 

 Bainbusa gracilis. 



A. Fortunei fol. var, — A silvery- 

 variegated dwarf Bamboo about 3 ft. 

 high. Leaves about 5 in. long, by 

 half or at most three-quarters of an inch 

 wide ; a bright colour beautifully striated 



with white in a young state, but the 

 variegation is apt to fade in the older 

 leaves, which become rather spotty. A 

 strong runner at the roots. 



A. auricoma. — A golden variegated 

 dwarf Bamboo, taller than the two pre- 

 ceding sorts. Leaves striped with bright 

 yellow, from 5 in. to 7 in. long, by i in. to 

 ij in. broad. Not a strong runner, but 

 a beautiful and conspicuous evergreen 

 plant. 



Bambusa pumila (^.Arundinaria). — A 

 very pretty dwarf Bamboo somewhat like 

 Arundinaria hwnilis., but smaller in habit, 

 the leaves are less broad, shorter, and do 

 not taper so gradually to a point. The teeth 

 of the serrated edges are less conspicu- 

 ous ; the lower sheaths are hardly so 

 hairy, and the nodes are less well defined 

 and far less downy. The stem is more 

 slender. 



Arundinaria Hindsii.— A distinct and 

 beautiful species. In its first year with 

 me it has grown to a height of 6 ft. 

 3 in., but will evidently attain a greater 

 stature. The young dark-green stems have 

 a lovely white wax on them like the bloom 

 on a Grape. The leaves are 6 in. long by 

 about five-eighths of an inch across ; 

 they are thicker than in most Bamboos. 

 The colour is a beautiful dark green, fairer 

 underneath ; the veins are conspicuously 

 and beautifully tessellated. 



A. Hindsii var. graminea.— A smaller 

 plant than the abo\e, with leaves 9 in. 

 long by five-eighths of an inch broad, 

 and yellow stems ; considered by the 

 authorities at Kew to be another form 

 of the same species. The tessellation of 

 the veins of the leaves is not quite so 

 strongly marked as in the type. 



A. japonica. — A fine and valuable 

 plant, generally grown in gardens under 

 the name of Bambusa Metake. The leaves 

 are from 8 in. to i ft. in length by about 

 i\ in., sometimes more, broad. The 

 upper surface is smooth and shining, the 

 lower side paler, rather glaucous and 

 wrinkled ; the edges are finely serrated. 

 The creeping root-stock in well-established 

 plants is very active, so that care must be 

 taken to give the plant plenty of room. 



A. Simoni.— Of this fine species, at 

 Kew, old-established plants have reached a. 

 height of 18 ft. The leaves are from 10 in. 

 to I ft. long, slightly hairy, lanceolate, 

 longitudinally ribbed, ending in a long 

 narrow point. So far as experience at 

 present goes, this is the greatest runner 

 of all the hardy Bamboos. Its young 

 shoots will appear at a great distance 

 from the parent plant. It should be 

 planted apart in the wild garden, where it 



