in Extra- Tropical Countries. 51 



stone-soil. Locally much used for rural buildings, affording posts, 

 rafters, flooring-material and shingles ; also many utensils, among 

 them buckets, are made of this Bamboo (Dr. Brandis). 



Bambusa flexuosa, Munro. 



China. Only 12 feet high, but very hardy, having resisted in 

 Southern France a temperature of 8 F (Geoffroy de St. Hilaire). 



Bambusa Senaensis, Franchet and Savatier. 



Japan. A tall and hardy species, distinguished from all other 

 Japanese Bambusaceae by its large leaves. Young Bamboo-shoots 

 (probably of several species) constitute part of the nourishment of 

 all classes in Japan (Dupont). 



Bambusa spinosa, Roxburgh.* 



Bengal. A Bamboo, attaining 100 feet in height. The central 

 cavity of the canes is of less diameter than in most other species; 

 thus the strength for many technic purposes is increased. 



Bambusa vulg-aris, Wendland. 



The large unarmed Bamboo of Bengal. It rises to a height of 70 

 feet, and the stems may attain a length even of 40 feet in one season, 

 though the growth is slower in cooler climes. It has proved to be 

 capable of resisting occasional night-frosts. It is the best for build- 

 ing bamboo-houses. Immersion in water for some time renders the 

 cane still firmer. To the series of large thornless bamboos belong 

 also Bambusa Tulda and Bambusa Balcooa of India, and Bambusa 

 Thouarsii from Madagascar and Bourbon. These bamboos are much 

 used for various kinds of furniture, mats, implements and other articles. 

 Besides these, Kurz enumerates as among the best Asiatic bamboos 

 for building purposes: Gigantochloa aspera, G. maxima, G. attar,- 

 while Teysmann notes G. apus for the same purpose. Kurz recom- 

 mends further, Bambusa arundinacea, B. Balcooa, B. Brandisii, B. 

 polymorpha, Dendrocalamus Hamilton! and Schizostachyum BlumeL 

 In the Moluccas, according to Costa, Gigantochloa maxima, or an 

 allied species, produces stems thick enough to serve when slit into 

 halves for canoes. Bamboos are utilized for masts and spars of small 

 vessels. Bambusa Balcooa was found by Wallich to grow 12 feet in 

 23 days. Bambusa Tulda, according to Roxburgh, has grown at 

 first at the rate of from 20 to 70 feet in a month. Fortune noticed 

 the growth of several Chinese Bamboos to be two to two and a half 

 feet a day. There are many other kinds of Bamboo eligible among 

 the species from China, Japan, India, tropical America and perhaps 

 tropical Africa. Two occur in Arnhem's Land, and one at least in 

 North-Queensland. New Guinea is sure to furnish also additional 

 kinds of technical importance or eminent horticultural value. 



Baptisia tinctoria, B. Brown. 



The " Wild Indigo " of Canada and the United States. A peren- 

 nial herb. It furnishes a fair pigment, when treated like the best 

 Indigoferas; also used as an antiseptic in medicine. 



