COLONEL MUNIIO'S MONOGRAPH OF THE BAMBUSACE^. 27 



Huh. ill Himalaya ct Ncpalia: var. a. Nepal! IValikh; Mussoorie ! Falconer \ Ruijle, no. 315!; Nyiice 

 Tal., alt. .5000-7500 p. s. m., Strachey -^^77 ! ; Dalhousie, iu Cliuniba, Him., Pinwcll 279 ! Var. /9. 

 Nepal, Chec'sapong ! Wullich, Cat. 5035 ! ; Mussoorie, Falconer ! ; Kedarkanta, Falconer !, Munro I 

 In summa valle Jumnie, Jacquemont 790 ! N.W. India !, Royle in Herb. Hook. ! Folia tantum, Lan- 

 dour! Thomson; Nyiiee Tal, Thomson, \Q2Q\ in montibus Kliasia; Nurtiung, //oo/:e?- ! ; Sariong (var. 

 ramulis foliiferis pcndulis), Thomson] Kew et Cork cult., vide supra, p. 10. "Nigala" incolis, 

 fide Royle et Cleghorn ; " Prong," fide Thomson. V. v. et s. 



CulniKS 6-10-pedalis (iu cult. 16-20, teste Moore, I. c), quotannis e surculis oriens, basi 2-3 lin. diametro, 

 spatliis sti'iati.s glabris subscmipedalibus apiculo uuciali, iuternodio iiifimo brcvissimo 3-5 lin. longo 

 tomentoso-barbulato, 2-3 sequentibus 1-2 jjoll., supremis 4-5 poll, longis, nodis (in eodem culmo) 

 hirsutis vel glabris ; in florente culmo ramulis numerosis filiformibus basi brevi-bracteatis, primum 

 simplicibus 2-3 poll., deinde proliferis compositis saepe sesquipedalibus; in foliifero ramulis filiformibus 

 plerumque proliferis, ad nodos semiverticillatis. Folia angusta, 2-3 vel raro 4-6 lin. lata, 3-4-6 poll, 

 longa, apice setaceo-acuminata, basi in petiolum atteuuata, glaucescenti-viridia, glabra, nisi subtu.^ 

 circa costam ubi pilosa sunt, ncrvis seeundariis utrinque 3—4, venulis transversis nuUis. Vagiiut 

 striatae, inferiores usque ad basin solutae, superne purpurascentes vel pallidse, pilis longis ssepe hirsutaj, 

 apice ciliis perpaucis cito deciduis, raro fimbriatse, ligiila elougata. Panicula falcata, (in var. a) 

 basi bracteata, longe pedunculata, spiculis 4—7 plus minus longe pedicellatis, simpliciter racemosa, 

 axillis .ssepe pilosis ; in var. /3 raccmis brevioribus, spiculis 3-4 (nisi terminali), brevi-pedicellatis. 

 Spiculce intra glumas sessiles, 6-8 lin. longae, 2-4-florse, plerumque flosculis 2 perfectis cum rudi- 

 mento tertii, articulis rbachillse ol)cuneatis sub lente tantum pubescentibus, flosculis fere dimidio 

 brevioribus. Glmnce membrauacete, inaequales, nervosse, apice ciliatse ; inferior minor, l-3-5-nervi8, 

 acuminata, ssepe toto margine fimbriata ; superior 7-9-uervis, vix acuta, flosculum infimum fere 

 requans. Palece sub lente scaberulte ; inferior nervosa, 7-9-nervis, acutiuseula, membranacca, apice 

 liirsuta; superior subaequalis vel raro longior, apice vel acuto vel bifido, bicariuata, et utrinque 

 prseterea binervis. Squamulce 3, sequales, obtusae, ovatse, fimbriatae et nervosse. Stamina 3, antheris 

 demum exsertis, filamentis ssepe explanatis. Stylus in stigmata 2 a basi longe pluniosa cito bifidus. 

 Ovarium lineari-oblongum in stylum attenuatum. 



This is an extremely variable plant ; and it is only after tlie examination of numerous 

 specimens, collected at different periods of the year and in all stages of intermediate 

 variation, that I feel persuaded I am right in placing them all in one species. When 

 first the j^lant appears in the spring, the branches of the flowering stem are nearly simple, 

 bearing at the nodes longish racemes, with a few short bractese at their base, the 

 whole inflorescence not exceeding 5 or 6 inches in breadth. As the season advances, 

 many of these simple branches become proliferous, and are often 1 foot and a half in length, 

 bearing at all their nodes 3 or 4 racemes much sliorter than those first produced. At 

 last the inflorescence becomes very much branched, and presents an appearance totally 

 unlike that seen in the young shoots ; and this compound form is the state represented 

 by Wallich's No. 5035 ! collected in December 1820. Trinius described his A. interrupta 

 from specimens preserved in the British Museum, collected by "Wallich in the earlier part 

 of the previous year ; but, shortly befoi'e Trinius's paper appeared, Nees described the ^jlant, 

 from some of Royle's specimens, as A. falcata. Speaking of this plant, E-oyle, in his 

 ' Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayas,' says, " One of the Bamboo tribe, which 

 in the hills is used for the same purposes as the bamboos in the plains, is found commonly 

 at elevations from 7500 to 10,000 feet; its ann^ial steins are yearly beaten doAvn by the 



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