BAMBUSEA 247 
Triste XIII. BAMBUSEA 
270. This tribe includes the bamboos. These are 
nearly all perennial, woody, often tree-like grasses, mostly 
of wet tropical regions. The culms in the larger species 
are as much as a foot in diameter and over 100 feet in 
height. The common economic species of the tropics, 
such as Bambos Bambos (L.) Wight (Bambusa vulgaris 
Wendl.), have large hollow culms, with hard partitions 
at each node. The wood is exceedingly hard and dense. 
The hollow joints are used as utensils and the culms for a 
great variety of purposes. There are, especially in the 
American tropics, several climbing species. The young 
shoots of the large erect species of bamboos are covered 
with large deciduous scales. The shoots grow to a con- 
siderable height before branching and producing the 
ordinary foliage. Several species of bamboos are cultiva- 
ted in the United States (Par. 89). The commonest are 
Arundinaria japonica Sieb. & Zuce., and several species of 
Phyllostachys. The latter genus may be distinguished by 
the internodes, flattened on one side. The species of 
Phyllostachys seldom flower in cultivation. The spikelets 
of Arundinaria japonica are large and several-flowered. 
The only bamboo native in the United States is the wild 
cane (Arundinaria macrosperma Michx.) (Fig. 63), found 
in our southern states where it often forms large masses 
called cane-brakes. A small form of this or possibly a 
distinct species, A. tecta Muhl., is called small cane or 
scutch cane. 
The floral characters of the bamboos are of little importance 
to students, as the cultivated forms do not often flower. The critical 
study of the group is too technical for any but the expert. The 
structure of the spikelets is, however, comparatively simple. They 
