200 THE TRUE GRASSES. 



acids, the alkalies thus formed are re-absorbed together 

 with the water, and a silicious jelly remains which hardens 

 into Tabasheer. It is believed that the accounts of the 

 ancients (Dioscorides, Plinius) which speak of o~aKx<xpov 

 and Saccharum do not refer to sugar, but to Tabasheer : 

 perhaps the accounts of the two are confounded. The 

 name comes from the Sanskrit (not Persian) word 

 Tavakkshira, meaning milk of the bark. [The present 

 name in Bengal, Hindostan and in the Dekkan is Bans- 

 lochan, Bans-kapur.*] 



Many species of bamboo are highly ornamental 

 plants : the Chinese and Japanese have planted them 

 for ages ; and in Europe, especially in the South, where 

 many can be kept in the open air, as well as in the green- 

 houses of the North, their use is becoming more general 

 and frequent. 



A. Stamens three ; palea two-keeled ; fruit a true caryopsis 

 [A rundinariea) . 



a. Spikelets two- to many-flowered (very rarely one- 

 flowered — Pliyllostachys). 



a. Spikelets with no subtending leaf. 



I. Empty glumes 1-2. . . 291. Arundinaria. 



II. Empty glumes 3-4. 292. Arthrostylidium. 

 /?. The 1-2 spikelets surrounded by a large leaf at 



their base 293. Phyllostachys. 



b. Spikelets one-flowered. 



a. In a compact globose head. 294. Athroostachys. 

 (i. In a one-sided spike. . . 295. Merostachys. 

 ;/. In panicles. 



I. Stem woody, leaves jointed at the base. 



296. Chusquea. 

 II. Stem herbaceous, leaves not jointed. 



297. Planotia. 



B. Stamens six, fruit a true caryopsis with a delicate peri- 

 carp (Eubamlmsecp). 



a. Filaments free. 



a. Spikelets one-flowered, with many empty 

 glumes 298. Nastus. 



* For a more complete account of Tabasheer, see Colin 's "Beitr. 

 z. Biologie d. Pfl.,"vol. 4, part 3, and " Zeitschr. d. allg. ost. Apo- 

 theker-Ver.," 1887, No. 9, 10 (by Poleck). 



