45 



bamboo grows for an indefinite period of time and that the 

 number of culms produced yearly is as great or even 

 greater. 



Some species of bamboo have large leaves and others 

 small ones, but variation in the size of the leaves may occur 

 in the same clump and species of bamboo. Neither size, 

 shape, nor the number of veins in the leaf can be taken 

 as invariable characteristics of the species. 



Many species of bamboo flower once and then die. Some 

 flower only after a great interval of time. The flowers 

 usually appear only after the bamboo is in full leaf, and 

 in the majority of cases, the leaves drop off as the inflores- 

 cence continues to form. The flowers may cover the 

 branches or only the branchlets ; they may be crowded into 

 a head or scattered and distant; they may be few or very 

 numerous. Sometimes the clumps of the same species of 

 bamboo in a locality flower at one time, seed, and then die. 



The bamboo belongs to the family of grasses and its fruit 

 is a grain. 



SPINY BAMBOO.' 



{Bamhusa blumeana.) 



Spiny bamboo (E.) ; aono-o (Capiz) ; baguin (Pampanga) ; batakan 

 (Surigao) ; bayug (Gad. and II. in Nueva Vizcaya) ; bayog (II. 

 in Zambales) ; cana espina (Sp.) ; duguian, kabugaoan, maru- 

 rugui, ruguian (Albay, Sorsogon) ; kawayan (T., B.) (Antique, 

 Bataan, Bohol, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Mindoro, Occidental Negros, 

 Pampanga, Rizal, Sorsogon, Surigao, Tarlac, Zamboanga) ; ka- 

 wayan guid, paua (Iloilo) ; kawayan matinic (Laguna, Tayabas) ; 

 kawayan nga bulilao (Occidental Negros) ; kawayan seitan 

 (Union); kawayan totoo (T.) ; pasingan (Cagayan). 



The stems or culms of this bamboo are from 10 to 20 

 m. high and have a diameter of about 8 to 10 cm. The 

 basal portion of the plant is surrounded by stiff, interlacing, 

 spiny branches. It is the only species of bamboo in the 

 Philippines provided with spines and it is therefore easily 

 recognized. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The most common bamboo in the Philippines and found 

 throughout the settled portions of the Archipelago. 



* See frontispiece. 



