50 THE BAMBOO GARDEN CHAP. 
climbing habit of many Japanese plants, which are obliged to ascend 
the trees in search of sun and light, for the Japanese forest is filled 
with climbing shrubs, which flourish with tropical luxuriance. 
Truly a startling statement! 
Occasionally it happens in Bamboo groves that a rhizome 
in its subterranean travels will meet with some obstacle such 
as a stone; immediately it grows upwards and forms an 
arch over the barrier, often rising above ground for the 
purpose of escaping from it, and then, curving down again, it 
plunges into the ground once more to continue its under- 
ground course. Beware of carrying a gun at full cock through 
a Bamboo grove! In countries where Bamboos are planted 
in carefully-prepared beds this phenomenon will be rarely 
seen. But I have one well-defined example of it in a clump 
of Phyllostachys nigra, and others in clumps of Bambusa 
palmata, where the rhizomes have formed distinct hoops above 
eround in order to avoid a stone or stump which barred their 
progress. 
The direction followed by the creeping rootstocks of 
Bamboos is a straight line from the parent stem. Sucha line 
may be traced for some yards in the case of Arundinaria 
Simoni by the stems which spring from the knots of the 
rhizome. These stems throw out roots downwards as will 
be seen presently, forming, as it were, separate plants, from 
which in turn rhizomes will be sent forth in every direction. 
The depth of the root varies in different species. In the case 
of Arundinaria Simoni they have been found buried more 
than a yard from the surface. Even the tiny A. pygmea, 
which in proportion to its size is the greatest wanderer of all 
its tribe in this country, will send its roots down some 2 feet. 
