v ETYMOLOGY—CLASSIFICATION, CHARACTERISTICS 45 
there are generally two, or at most three, in which latter 
case one drops off), which, being closely packed under the 
sheaths against the cane while it is in a soft state, leave a 
permanent double furrow on the internode, and the cane 
itself is more or less, sometimes almost imperceptibly, 
zigzageed from joint to joint. Of the two persistent 
branches one is always much longer than the other. As a 
rule, the sheaths which protect the branches in their embryo 
state are far more persistent in the Arundinaria than in the 
Phyllostachys, their dead appearance being a sore disfigure- 
ment to some species, as, for instance, in Arundinaria 
japonica (Métaké) and Arundinaria Simoni. In the Phyllo- 
stachys the sheaths drop as soon as the branches spring 
away at an angle from the side of the stem, while in the 
Arundinaria they are apt to bend back with the branches 
and remain encircling them, furnishing them with a comfort- 
able jacket until they are able to take care of themselves. 
Then, and not till then, they fall off. 
Many of the Arundinarias have those portions of the 
internodes which are not encased in the sheaths covered by a 
thick, waxy, white secretion ike the bloom on a purple grape, 
contrasting finely with the green colour of the stem. This is 
very noticeable in Arundinaria nitida, Arundinaria Hindsu, 
and others. This waxy bloom in plants serves a distinct and 
important purpose in preventing the stomata, or mouths which 
are the organs of transpiration, from becoming stopped with 
water either in the shape of rain or dew. In the leaves of 
Bamboos there is another provision for protecting the 
stomata in the shape of solid peg-like projections of the 
cuticle—of course, both the stomata and their protections are 
