70 THE BAMBOO GARDEN 
very narrow, sometimes not more than an eighth of an inch 
broad, and from 1 to 2 inches long. The topmost sheaths 
terminate in a true leaf instead of a limbus. The sheath 
and limbus have the same irregular and evanescent appearance 
of tessellation noticed in the preceding species. A single 
branch is borne in the axil of the node and sheath, and hence 
the bud is a simple flattish scale, differing from the complex 
scaly bud of ARUNDINARIA SrmonrI. The nodes are not very 
prominent. As the branches, which are two or three times 
as long as the internodes, are developed, the sheaths of the 
culms are forced back and roll themselves tightly round the 
lower part of the branches. ‘There is very little of the waxy 
bloom so conspicuous on A. SIMONI to be found about the 
nodes and on the stem. 
The leaves are from 8 to 12 inches long, by 13 to 
2 inches broad; the upper surface smooth and shining, the 
lower glaucous, felted with minute silvery hairs, and wrinkled 
longitudinally by the prominent secondary nerves, of which 
I have counted as many as nine on either side of the midrib. 
The edges, especially on one side, are very finely serrated. 
The creeping rootstock in well-established plants travels 
far afield, so care must be taken to give this Bamboo plenty 
of room. 
It has been the fashion rather to undervalue ARUNDINARIA 
JAPONICA, and as it is the most generally cultivated, so also 
it is the best abused, of all Bamboos. Messrs. Riviere say: 
“Ses gaines seches, mais persistantes, lui donnent un aspect 
peu agréable . . . En somme il woffre qu'un intérét fort 
médiocre, et nous ne serions pas ¢tonnés quil fat relégué 
tot ou tard dans les jardins botaniques.” Mr. Bean, in his 
