in Extra-Tropical Countries. 347 



Schima Wallichii, Choisy. 



India, up to 5,000 feet. A tree attaining a height of about 100 

 feet. Timber highly valuable (C. B. Clarke). 



Schinus Molle, 



From Mexico to Chili, ascending the Andes to about 12,750 feet. 

 A tree, thriving on dry and sandy soil, odorous in all its parts ; the 

 foliage in bouquets a good substitute for ferns and not quickly 

 shrivelling ; the jerking motion of leaf-fragments thrown into water 

 very remarkable; the somewhat spicy small fruits serving as condi- 

 ment. Rate of growth of tree at Port Phillip about 1 foot a year. 

 S. terebinthifolia (Raddi) from Brazil proved a good promenade-tree 

 in Victoria. 



;Schizostachyum Blumei, Nees. 



Java, at an elevation of about 3,000 feet. A lofty Bamboo. 

 A few other species, less elevated, occur in China, in the South-Sea 

 and Philippine-Islands, also in Madagascar. The Bamboos being 

 thus brought once more before us, it may be deemed advisable, to 

 place together in one brief list all kinds, which are recorded either as 

 very tall or as particularly hardy. Accordingly, from Major- General 

 Muiiro's admirable monography (Transactions of the Linnean Society, 

 1868) the succeeding enumeration is compiled, and from that masterly 

 essay, resting on very many years' close study of the richest collec- 

 tions, a few prefatory remarks are likewise offered, to vindicate the 

 wish of the writer of seeing these noble and graceful forms of vege- 

 tation largely transferred to every part of Australia, and indeed to 

 many other portions of the globe, where they would impress a grand 

 .tropical feature on the landscapes. Even in the far southern latitudes 

 of Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand, some Bamboos from the 

 Indian lowlands have proved able to resist our occasional night- 

 frosts of the low country ; but in colder places the many sub-alpine 

 species could be reared. Be it remembered, that Chusquea aristata 

 advances to an elevation of 15,000 feet on the Andes of Quito, indeed 

 to near the zone of perpetual ice. Arundinaria racemosa and A. 

 spathiflora live on the Indian highlands, at a zone between 10,000 

 .and 11,000 feet, where they are annually beaten down by snow. 

 Forms of Bambusacese still occur, according to Grisebach, in the 

 Kurilian archipelagus up to 46 N., and in Japan even to ol. We 

 may further recognise the great importance of these plants, when we 

 reflect on their manifest industrial uses, when we consider their 

 grandeur for picturesque scenery, when we observe their resistance 

 to storms or heat, or when we watch the marvellous rapidity with 

 which many develop. Their seeds, though generally produced only 

 at long intervals, are valued in many instances higher than rice. 

 The ordinary great Bamboo of India is known to grow 40 feet in 

 forty days, when bathed in the moist heat of the jungles. Delche- 

 valerie noticed the growth of some Indian Bamboos at Cairo to have 

 .been 1-0 inches in one night. Their power of growth is such, as to 



