a - PHYLLOSTACHYS MITIS 119 
lanceolated, often variegated with yellow or orange stripes. 
The outer surface of the sheaths, which is of a brownish colour, 
is apt to be splashed with purplish spots, but these are not 
nearly so strongly marked as in PHYLLOSTACHYS QUILIOI. 
When the withered sheaths drop off, the deep green stem, 
shining like enamel, gradually ripens into a bright yellow 
colour like golden corn. The axillary bud scales are a shining 
brown. The foliage is very beautiful, especially in a two- 
year-old culm, when the branchlets clothe it with a dense 
and brilliant green leafage, which, stirred by the wind, shows 
the blue tinge of the lower face of the leaf, producing a most 
pleasing effect. The leaves are by no means uniform in size ; 
some are quite small—not much more than 1 inch long— 
whereas others (generally the terminal leaves of branches) 
are some 6 inches in leneth by 1 inch in breadth. Such a 
leaf will show some six or seven secondary nerves flanking 
the midrib,—the number of secondary nerves being in pro- 
portion to the size of the leaf. The shape is lanceolate, 
tapering to a very fine point, and ending at the base in a well- 
defined petiole. One edge is serrated, the other almost 
smooth, but the serration is not so sharp as in PHYLLOSTACHYS 
AUREA. The leaf sheaths, which end in an elongated ligule, 
are fringed at the insertion of the leaf with a number of 
rather coarse hairs. 
The underground procession of the rhizome is much 
more marked than in PHYLLOSTACHYS AUREA, the stems 
appearing on alternate sides along its course, which they 
very distinctly indicate, although the running powers in this 
country are of course very poor, compared with what they 
are in hotter climates. Whereas in PHYLLOSTACHYS AUREA 
