15AMBUSA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



BAMBUSA. 445 



any of the hardy Bamboos. The stem 

 is about 2^ ft. high, round, slightly flat- 

 tened at the top, the colour a purplish- 

 green, much hidden by persistent 

 withered sheaths. The slender new 

 culms spring gracefully from the carpet of 

 arching foliage. Syn., Bambusa Raga- 

 .niowski. 



Arundinaria nitida. A very lovely 

 species from North Western Szechuan. 

 The culms are purple-black, very slender 

 and round. The leaves are small, lancet- 

 shaped, and tessellated. Quite the hardi- 

 est of all our Bamboos. 



A. angustifolia. A lovely little Bam- 

 boo, about 9 in. to i ft. in height. The stems 

 are round, very slender, and when young 

 of a purplish colour. It is much branched ; 

 the leaves are about 4^ in. in length by 

 three-eighths of an inch in width ; they 

 are serrated on both sides, and somewhat 

 capriciously striped with silver variega- 

 tion. 



A. marmorea. A pretty and dis- 

 tinct little Bamboo, for which I have 

 chosen the name marmorea on account 

 of the very peculiar appearance of the 

 young stems, which are folded in purple 

 sheaths, delicately marbled with a pinkish 

 silver-gray, through which, near the knots, 

 peep glimmers of the bright emerald- 

 green or dark purple of the stem itself. 

 The leaves, which are bright green, are 

 about 4^ in. long by three-eighths to five- 

 eighths of an inch broad ; they are ser- 

 rated on both edges, and have a marked 

 constriction at about half an inch from 

 the very sharp end. The rhizome is 

 very active, new shoots appearing at some 

 distance from the parent plant. 



A. pygmaea. The best and the smallest 

 of the dwarf Bamboos, invaluable for 

 making a carpet of soft brilliant green. 

 It grows with extraordinary rapidity, the 

 root-stock travelling great distances and 

 at a considerable depth. Stem about 

 6 in. to 1 6 in. high ; leaves about 4 in. 

 long by half an inch to three-quarters of 

 an inch broad. It grows so thick and 

 close that no weed has a chance against 

 it, but it should have plenty of room. 



A. Lay dekeri. Apparently a semi- 

 dwarf Bamboo, not, so far as my ex- 

 perience of it goes, particularly attractive, 

 though it should have a place in a collec- 

 tion. The stems in the third summer are 

 about 3 ft. high, but will probably grow 

 higher ; round, much branched ; ap- 

 parently, therefore, it is an Arundinaria. 

 The leaves are about 6 in. long, dark 

 green, but rather shabbily mottled on both 

 surfaces, serrated on one edge and slightly 

 so on the other ; leaf-sheaths hairy at top. 



The branches, which are long in propor- 

 tion to the length of the stems, from which 

 they stand out rather markedly, give the 

 plant a conspicuous habit. 



Phyllostachys heterocycla. This is 

 called by the Japanese Kiko-chiku, or the 

 " tortoise-shell Bamboo," from the curious 

 arrangement of the alternately and par- 

 tially suppressed internodes at the base 

 of the stem, which sheathe it in plate 

 armour like the scales on a tortoise's back. 

 At about 2 ft. or 3 ft. from the ground the 

 nodes are regularly defined, as in other 

 Bamboos. The other characteristics of 

 this Bamboo do not differ from those of 

 the Phyllostaches of the mitts and aurea 

 group. The leaves are from 3 in. to 4 in. 

 long and about half an inch wide, very 

 minutely serrated on one edge and almost 

 imperceptibly so on the other, bright 

 green on the upper surface, bluer under- 

 neath. The imported stems are about 

 5 in. round, and the plant has the appear- 

 ance of growing into a large and impor- 

 tant Bamboo. 



P. Marliacea. A rare, handsome 

 species. The only plant of it I possess 

 has in its third year grown to a height of 

 8 ft., and promises to become very tall and 

 vigorous. The stem is a dark green, 

 shining like enamel ; the internodes at 

 the base are very close together, not more 

 than i^r in. to 2 in. Its habit is very 

 graceful, the culms forming the most 

 elegant arches, beautiful both in form and 

 colour. 



P. fastuosa. This very stately and 

 beautiful plant stands out quite conspicu- 

 ously among its fellows. The leaves are 

 from 5 in. to 7 in. long by three-quarters 

 of an inch to I in. in width, tapering to a 

 sharp point, and markedly constricted at 

 about an inch from the end, which has the 

 appearance of a little tongue. Their 

 colour is bright green on the upper 

 surface and very glaucous underneath. 

 This Bamboo will probably prove to be 

 one of the most valuable of the group. 

 Tall, spreading, gracefully plumed with 

 foliage which for richness and beauty of 

 colour is without a rival, it cannot fail to 

 make a striking feature in the wild garden. 



P. aurea. The distinctive name aurea 

 is not very happily chosen, for there is 

 nothing golden about the plant unless it 

 be the yellow stems, and these are not 

 peculiar to the variety named. At Shrub- 

 land Park, Phyllostachys aurea is 14 ft. 6 

 in. high, the canes being 2| in. round. 



P. mitis. This is the tallest, and in 

 that respect the noblest, of all the Bam- 

 boos capable of being cultivated in this 

 countrv. At Shrubland the culms of 



