198 THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF WOOD 



Bamboo. Bambusa vulgar is. 



Nomenclature. 



Bamboo (local and common name). 



Locality. 



Florida (acclimated). 



Features of Tree. 



Seventy-five feet in height, four to six inches in diameter. 

 Delicate branches and leaves. Greenish glazed jointed stem, 

 extensive roots. 



Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. 



Yellowish brown, conspicuously fibrous, moderately thin walls, 

 central canal broken by joints. 



Structural Qualities of Wood. 

 Light, elastic, works easily. 



Representative Uses of Wood. 



Posts, poles, utensils, troughs, pipes, roofing, paper. 



Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 

 Variable. 



Modulus of Elasticity. 



2,380.000 (Johnson's " Materials of Construction," p. 689). 

 Modulus of Rupture. 



27,400 (Johnson's " Materials of Construction," p. 689). 



Remarks. 



It must be remembered that bamboos while large as trees are not 

 trees, but wood-producing grasses. The woods have been used 

 in balloon frames and were formerly employed in incandescent 

 electric lamps. A stem attains full height in a single year, 

 but must then stand for three or four years in order to season 

 or harden. 



Rattan is obtained from several sources. Species of Calamus, as C. 

 rudentum, are pre-eminently climbers. Stalks not over an inch thick are 

 sometimes three hundred or more feet in length, ascending and falling in 

 festoons from tall trees. Species of Rhapis, as R. flabelliformis, are, on 

 the contrary, erect canes growing in thick tufts. The former are known 

 as climbing and the latter as ground rattans. Both are characterized by 

 toughness, length, lightness and pliability. Natives make houses, bridges, 

 matting, hats, and baskets of it. They also make many kinds of cordage, 

 from fine sewing fibres to thick cables. Rattan, which is usually split, 

 is superceding willow, in most civilized countries, for furniture, fancy 

 carriage bodies, chair bottoms and the like. The best rattan comes from 

 Borneo. 



