564 LXXVIII. GRAMINILE. [Thamnocalamus. 



Leaves thin, 3-4 in. long, J-J in. broad, narrowed into a slender peti- 

 ole ; sheaths membranous, truncate below the petiole. Flowering branches 

 (on leafless culms?) numerous, slender, 12-18 in. long, bearing numerous 

 distant short racemes. Racemes sessile, 1 in. long, supported at the base 

 by 6-8 imbricate membranous bracts, the outer shorter, ovate, the inner 

 ovate-lanceolate, nearly as long as spikelet. Spikelets glabrous, of one 

 fertile and a terminal sterile flower \ empty glumes 2, more than half the 

 length of spikelet. 



Madhari Pass, Kamaon (8000 ft.), Strachey and Winterbottom. Nepal. 



3. BAMBUSA, Schreber. 



Large, mostly erect, often gigantic Bamboos, the stems generally massed 

 together in compact clumps or clusters. Flowers in a few species on 

 leaf-bearing stems, generally on stems without leaves, which die after the 

 seed is ripe. In some species one or a few stems only of the entire cluster 

 bear flowers at one time these are the Bamboos which flower annually ; 

 in others all or nearly all stems of one cluster come into flower at the 

 same time, followed by the death of the entire cluster these are the 

 Bamboos which flower after long periods, for it generally happens that all 

 or most clusters of the same species come into flower simultaneously in one 

 district, so that in one year all Bamboos of one species die over extensive 

 areas, followed by a dense mass of seedlings, which come to maturity and 

 bear flowers after a period varying according to circumstances. Spikelets 

 generally many-flowered ; empty glumes 2 or more, the lower shorter, the 

 upper similar to the flowering glumes. Palea 2-keeled, keels generally 

 fimbriate. Scales 3, ciliate, membranous or hyaline. Stamens 6. Cary- 

 opsis with a deep longitudinal furrow, often adhering to the palea and 

 flowering glume. 



Branches spinescent ; leaves small 1 . B. arundinacea. 



Branches unarmed. 

 Spikelets terete. 



Leaves middle - sized, pale and soft - pubescent beneath, 

 transverse veins none, spikelets 1-2 in. long, joints 

 of rachis elongated, thickened into a hairy disc under 

 the flowering glume ; scales cuneate, thickened at 

 base, but without prominent nerves . . . 2. B. Tulda. 



Leaves large, concolorous, glabrous but scabrous along 

 edges, transverse veins distinct ; spikelets \-% in. long, 

 joints of rachis short, glabrous ; scales ovate or obo- 

 vate, with distinct longitudinal nerves . . 3. B. Balcooa. 



Spikelets laterally compressed, flowers distichous ; leaves 



with distinct transverse veins 4. B. vulgaris. 



1. B. arundinacea, Retz ; Munro 1. c. 103 ; Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 79 ; 

 Fl. Ind. ii. 191 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 321. Sans. Vansa. Vern. Magar 

 bans, ndl bans, Pb. ; Bans, hattang, kuttung bans, N.W. and Central 

 India ; Mandgay, Bombay (Dalzell) ; Veduru, Telugu. 



Stems taD, green, shining, with spinescent branches, packed close in 



