BAMBOO 



BAMBOO 



445 



least those above the base, are flattened on one side. 

 Generally, Arundinaria and Bambusa cannot be sepa- 

 rated by horticultural characters, and Dendrocalamus 

 is hardly separable except by its great size. It is proba- 

 ble that many of the forms now classed as species of 

 Bambusa will eventually be found to belong to other 

 genera, especially to Arundinaria. Extended informa- 

 tion regarding the Bambuseae may be found in the 

 following publications: Munrp's Monograph, in Trans- 

 actions of the Linna>an Society, Vol. XXVI (1868); 

 Hackel, in Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Vol. II, 

 part 2, p. 89 (1887), English Translation by Lamson- 

 Scribner & Southworth, as The True Grasses, New 

 York, 1890; papers by Bean in Gardeners' Chronicle 

 111,15:167, et seq. (1894); Freeman-Mitford, The 

 Bamboo Garden, 1896, New York, The Macmillan 

 Company, pp. 224; A. & C. Riviere, Les Bambous, 

 Paris, 1879; Gamble, The Bambusese of British India, 

 Calcutta and London, 1896; Houzeau, Le Bambou, 

 Mons., 1906; Fairchild, Japanese Bamboos, 1903; 

 Franceschi, Bamboos in California, Santa Barbara, 

 1908. Among the hardiest of the bamboos are the fol- 

 lowing: Phyllostachys Henonis, P. nigra, P. viridi-glau- 

 i-i'xniix; Arundinaria macrosperma, A. japonica, A. 

 nitida; Bambusa palmata, B. tessellata and B. pygmsea. 



The list of descriptions contains the important kinds 

 of bamboos in cultivation in America, and following the 

 classified descriptions will be found a list of species, 

 showing those that are more or less rare in gardens, but 

 procurable from time to time through horticultural 

 catalogues or prominent growers. An attempt has been 

 made to separate the hardier forms of bamboos from 

 the tenderer kinds by the character of the venation of 

 the leaves, a distinction that has been enthusiastically 

 entertained by Freeman-Mitford in his most estimable 

 work, a book that has done much to create a popular 

 appreciation of bamboos, and also to clear up the com- 

 plete confusion into which the trade names have fallen. 



Bamboos have slowly but persistently increased in 

 popular esteem, especially in the southern and Pacific 

 siatps, where they have proved their great beauty and 

 usefulness as garden ornamentals. A new impetus has 

 been given the cultivation of these plants by the dis- 

 semination of suitable species and varieties, and by the 

 introduction of new and desirable kinds by commercial 

 horticulturists and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



In the following taxonomy, A. = Arundinaria; B.= 

 Bambusa; D. = Dendrocalamus; P. = Phyllostachys; 

 T.=Thamnocalamus, which is here considered a sub- 

 genus of Arundinaria. No Japanese native names are 

 indicated, although bamboos are sometimes offered 

 under such names. The prevailing tendency is to dis- 

 card vernacular names, when unassociated with the 

 Latin binomials, as they breed hopeless confusion. 



SECTION I. Venation conspicuously tessellate, i.e., the 

 veins crossing one another like the meshes of a net, 

 visible to the naked eye by holding a If. up to the 

 light, or more clearly seen by the use of a lens. 

 (Embraces the hardier types of bamboos, 1-30.) 



A. Internodes not flattened: sheaths persistent. 

 B. Las. relatively very broad, usually 2 in. wide, or more. 



1. A. Veitchii, N. E. Br. (Bambusa Ve\tchii, Carr.). 

 Fig. 487. Height usually 3 ft. or less: sts. purple, white- 

 waxy below the nodes: Ivs. 6-8 in. long, about 2 in. wide, 

 bright green above, below pale and minutely pubes- 

 cent, serrate. Japan. M. 77, but not G.C. III. 15:169, 

 or R.B. 23, p. 270, which are pictures of B. palmata, as 

 explained in G.C. III. 15:209. This is also liable to 

 confusion with B. tessellata, but may be separated by 

 If. characters. Quite hardy, but the edges of the Ivs. 

 wither in late autumn, giving a variegated but injured 

 appearance. 



2. B. palmata, Burbidge. Fig. 488. Height 2-5 ft.: 

 Ivs. 10-15 in. long, 2-3 % in. wide, bright green, serrate, 

 smooth and shin- 

 ing above, below 



pale and min- 

 utely pubescent; 

 longitudinal veins 

 very prominent. 

 Japan. M. 79. 

 Gn. 49, p. 59, 

 shows a clump 36 

 ft. in circum. A 

 beautiful, broad- 

 Ivd. ornamental. 



456. Bambusa tessellata. (<;') 



3. B. tessellata, 

 Munro (B. Rag- 

 am6wskii, Hort.). 

 Fig. 456. Height 

 3-4 ft.: Ivs. 12- 

 18 in. long, 2-4 

 in. wide, smooth 

 and shining above, 

 whitened beneath, 

 sharply serrate; 

 midrib prominent 

 and bearing a 



tomentose line on one side. China and Japan. G.C. III. 

 15: 167; 18: 189. R.B. 23, p. 269 Produces the largest 

 Ivs. of any of the hardy bamboos in cult., which is 

 especially remarkable on account of its dwarf habit. 

 Much confused in gardens, but unnecessarily, with 

 A. Veitchii, as the tomentose line on one side of the mid- 

 rib is unique in B. tessellata. The Ivs. are used by the 

 Chinese for wrapping tea. 



BB. Lvs. distinctly narrower. 



c. Foliage green. 



D. Plants low, usually 1-3 ft. in height. 

 E. Arrangement of Ivs. distichous. 



4. B. disticha, Mitford (B. nana, Hort., not Roxbg.). 

 Height 2-3 ft. : sts. zigzag, slender, green or tinged with 

 purple: branches borne singly: Ivs. 2-2 J^ in. long, Jiin. 

 wide, or less, green, serrate on both edges, produced in 

 2 vertical ranks. Origin uncertain. An interesting and 

 beautiful species, the distichous arrangement of the 

 Ivs. lending a distinct and unusual character. 



EE. Arrangement of Ivs. not distichous. 



5. B. pygmjea, Miq. Height ^-1 ft. : sts. very slen- 

 der, purple, much branched; nodes prominent, with a 

 waxy glaucous band: Ivs. 3-4 in. long, about Vim., wide, 

 serrate, pubescent, bright green above, glaucous be- 

 neath. Japan. The smallest of the bamboos, and re- 

 markably hardy. It is especially valuable as an under- 

 growth, quickly making a carpet in wild places; but its 

 rampant growth will quickly outgrow close quarters. 



