76 THE BAMBOO GARDEN 
contrasting rarely with the deep black purple of the culms, 
especially when a slight breeze reveals the rather glaucous . 
tinge of the under surface. In shape they are like a surgeon’s 
lancet rounded off to a somewhat blunted base, which ter- 
minates in a petiole so short that the leaves have almost the 
appearance of being sessile. What apology for a petiole exists 
is tinged with purple, the colour being continued along the 
edge of the leaf where it fades away into the point. One 
edge is serrated, the other partially so. The secondary nerves, 
' three or four on either side, are very faint and ‘inconspicu- 
ous, sometimes so hardly to be distinguished from the 
longitudinal parallel lines of the tessellated venation as to 
tempt one at first sight to think that they are absent. 
In bulk, as in height, ARUNDINARIA NITIDA increases year 
by year with great rapidity. It should therefore have plenty 
of room to show off its full beauty. It is a modest and re- 
tiring plant, dreading the full light of day. A touch of the 
sun’s rays suffices to curl up its leaves, which open out again 
as soon as a passing cloud, ora friendly bough, gives it the 
mantle of its protection. It must therefore be planted in the 
shade of some choice woodland nook, whose beauty it will 
adorn in winter as in summer. 
According to Mr. Stapf, this species is nearest allied to 
ARUNDINARIA SINICA, Hance (ARUNDINARIA LONGIRAMEA, 
Munro). (Kew Bulletin, January 1896, p. 20.) 
