BAMBOO 



BANANA 



449 



powdery when young, smooth and bright green when 

 older, 1-5 in. diam.: nodes prominent: internodes 9-20 

 in. long: sheaths with waved, hairy auricles: Ivs. 5-10 

 in. long, } 2-^4in. wide, deep green above, pale beneath, 

 slightly hispid. Burma, India. Gamble, Bamb. Brit. 

 Ind. 81, t. 71. — Requires a warm, protected situation 

 to attain full development. Intro, into Calif, in 1895 

 by Franceschi. 



AA. Sts. either solid or spiny. 



40. B. arundinacea, Retz. Fig. 461. A majestic 



species, often attaining a height of more than 40-60 ft. : 

 sts. produced in dense clumps, at first green and shining, 

 zigzag in outUne, eventually straight and golden in 

 color: branches, especially the lower, more or less spiny: 

 Ivs. 4-8 in. long, 3^2in. or a little more wide, nearly gla- 

 brous; sheaths persistent: fls. produced at long intervals, 

 and after perfecting seeds, the plants die. India. 

 Gamble, Bamb. Brit. Ind. 51, t. 48. 



41. D. strictus, Nees. Called Male Bamboo, on 



account of the soUd character of the culms. Height 

 20-50 ft.: sts. 1-3 in. diam., solid or nearly so, glau- 

 cous green when young, yellowish when mature: nodes 

 swollen: internodes 10-15 in.: branches long and slen- 

 der, leafy: Ivs. 4-10 in, long, up to lH in. wide, soft- 

 hairy, at least when young, narrowed from near the 

 base to the tip, the apex usually twisted; midrib promi- 

 nent, with 3-6 nerves on either side, the nervulea 

 chiefly of interposed pellucid glands. India, Burma. 

 Gamble, Bamb. Brit. Ind. 78, t. 68 and 69. 



B. agristis, Foil. India, Cochin China. Adv. by Yokohoma Nura. 

 Co. — B. Alpkdnse Kurri, Hort. A variegated form of B. nana, Roxbg. 

 Young sts. striped with white and pink, older sts. yellow with broad 

 green stripes. Tender. — A. dnceps, Mitford. Similar to A. nitida, 

 but mature sts. yellow-green or brown, and If. -sheaths fringed with 

 w^hite hairs. Native of the Himalayas, at elevations between 9,000- 

 10,000 ft. — "B. argentea. Grows 25-35 ft. high; the dense masses of 

 beautiful green foliage, glaucous underneath, and the hundreds of 

 slender culms growing close together, the exterior ones bending over 

 to all sides, combine to make this bamboo indescribably beautiful." 

 H. Xehrling, Fla. — "B. argentea var. vitfdta, the variegated bamboo 

 or the blue bamboo of gardens, the taiho-chiku of the Japanese, 

 who have grown this from time immemorial in pots, is one of the 

 most satisfactory in Fla.; it attains the size of B. argentea, but its 

 Ivs. are still more blue on the under side and altogether smaller 

 and more delicate; they are striped and edged with white." Nehr- 

 ling. — A. aristdta. Gamble. Sts. 5 ft., purplish brown: Ivs. 4 in. 

 long, J2in. or less wide, narrowed to an acute apex, venation tessel- 

 iate. Himalayas, where it thrives at elevations of 11,000 ft. — B. 

 aureo-stridta, Hegel. Japan. — P. Borydna, Hort. By some authori- 

 ties considered to be a form of P. nigra, but the culms are of a dull 

 yellow color when mature, splashed here and there with purple- 

 brown blotches, and the branches are much longer in proportion to 

 the culms. China and Japan. — P. fiexudsa, A. & C. Riviere. Culms 

 6-10 ft., dull greenish yellow when mature: Ivs. similar to those of 

 P. viridi-glaucescens: li gules of the culm-sheaths without auricles. 

 A comparatively small and compact ornamental. China. — A. fdliis' 

 variegdtis, Hort., is presumably A. Fortunei, the commonest low- 

 growing, variegated arundinaria. — "B. grdcilis. This most beautiful 

 small species used to be grown in gardens under the name of A. 

 falcatarthe Ivs. are very small, arranged in a distichous way on 

 both sides of the twigs: they have a fine emerald-green color: sts. 

 thin and slender, the whole plant not growing taller than 10-12 ft." 

 Nehrling. — P. heterocyda, Carr. A curious plant, the lower inter- 

 nodes of which are obliquely and alternately arranged like the 

 scales of a tortoise, and for this reason called the "tortoise-shell 

 bamboo." At about 1-3 ft. from the ground the nodes lose this 

 peculiar character, and assume a regularity as in other species. In 

 other respects this interesting bamboo does not differ much from 

 P. mitis, or P. aurea. Japan. — .4. Khasidna, Munro. A Himalayan 

 species with black sts., allied to A. falcata. The name, however, has 

 been misapplied to A. nitida and A. nobilis. and the true species is 

 probably not in cult, in the U. S. — B. Laydekeri, Hort. Height 3-8 

 ft.: sts. green with a tinge of purple, verticillately branched above, 

 the branches relatively long: ivs. 4— ti in. long, ?--2in. or less wide, dark 

 green, somewhat mottled in appearance. China and Japan. — "B. 

 macroculmis. Received about 15 years ago directly from Japan 

 under t he name of taisan-chiku. It is a veritable giant, growing 50- 

 75 ft. high with large dark green Ivs. and thick culms, first green, 

 then black; old culms have a gray color: in stature this is one of the 

 noblest of all the bamboos, and it is perfectly hardy; the sts. spring 

 straight out of the soil like spears and when they have fully devel- 

 oped they bend over to all sides at their tops, so that the entire 

 plant from a distance looks like a gigantic sheaf." Nehrling. — P. 

 marlidcea, Mitford. Wrinkled Bamboo. Similar to P. Quilioi. but 

 the internodes at the base are very close together, not more than 

 1-2 in. apart, mucn wrinkled. Japan. — P. nigro-punctdta, Hort. 

 Probably a variety of P. nigra, under which it appears in the classi- 

 fied descriptions above. — "B. niUana. A most exquisite bamboo 

 grown for many years under the name of Dendrocalamus strictus. 



29 



which is a very different plant; grows 35-40 ft. high with a very 

 dense growth of small green Ivs, the green having a shade of blue in 

 it; the sts. hang over to all sides, forming beautiful arches; tender; a 

 most exquisite plant to grow on lawns or on the edge of lakes, or in 

 the foreground of deep green magnolias." Nehrling. — B. orientdlis, 

 Nees. Adv. by Franceschi, Santa Barbara, Calif., who regards it 

 as a form of B. arundinacea, with Ivs. larger and velvety to the 

 touch. It forms clumps quickly. E. India. — A. racemdsa, Munro. 

 A native of the Himalayas, growing at high altitudes: height up to 

 15 ft., the culms brown, very thick in proportion to height: the long 

 and narrow Ivs. are conspicuously tessellated. — "B. scriptdria. A 

 small species not growing over 6-S ft. high, farming fine dense 

 clumps: Ivs. small, green, underneath glaucous; particularly valu- 

 able for small gardens." Nehrhng. — .4. spathifldra, Trin. Height 

 10-20 ft., the culms yellowish or nearly brown, slender and much 

 branched: Ivs. tessellated, 2-3 in. long, about }4'm. wide, acutely 

 pointed, thin in texture. Himalayas, at altitudes of 7,000-10,000 ft. 

 — B. stridta, Lodd. Height 4-5 ft.: sts. striped yellow and green, aa 

 thick as the thumb; internodes 4-6 in. long: Ivs. 0-8 in. long, ^i-1 in. 

 broad. China. B.M. 6079, which shows a flowering specimen with 

 conspicuous anthers, red-purple at first, and fading to lilac. Not 

 described by Mitford. Formerly sold by Yokohoma Nurs. Co. — B. 

 striatifdlia var. aurea, Hort., an abandoned trade name never re- 

 cognized by botanists. — B. stricta, Hort., an old trade name probably 

 not B. stricta, Roxbg. — P. sulphiirea, A. & C. Rividre. Height 10- 

 15 ft., seemingly intermediate between P. mitis and P. aurea. It 

 is less tall than the former, and the sts. are more brightly colored 

 than in the latter species. Japan. — B. Thoudrsii. Kunth. A doubtr- 

 ful species, considered by some botanists to be only a form of the 

 widespread B. vulgaris: but, according to Franceschi, at least horti- 

 culturally distinct. Height 50-60 ft., with a diam. of culm of 4-5 in. 

 Intermediate in outline between the erect-growing D. latiflorus, and 

 the spreading or horizontally inclined B. vulgaris. Intro, into Calif, 

 some 25 years ago, and in recent years reintro. by the IJ. S. Dept. of 

 Agric. from S. France, where it had come from Algiers 40-45 years 

 ago. — B. Tulda, Roxbg. Height up to 70 ft., the culms 4-5 in. 

 diam., and of a remarkable gray-green color: Ivs. very glaucous on 

 the lower surface. Recently intro. by the U. S. Dept. of Agric. 

 Bengal and Burma. Gamble, Bamb. Brit. Ind. 30, t. 29. — B. varie- 

 gdta, Sieb.=A. Fortunei. — B. verticilldla, Hort., Franceschi. Height 

 15-20 ft.: sts. orange-yellow: Ivs. in whorls, striped white. 



Among the recent introductions of bamboos by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, representing two genera of much 

 interest and rarity to the United States, are the following: 



CHUSQUEA. A genus belonging to the subtribe ArundinariesB, 

 of tall, shrubby or climbing plants with the flowering branches in 

 clusters at the joints, and comparatively small Ivs. and spikelets. 

 W. Indies and S. Amer., chiefly in the Andes. — C. bambusoides. Hack. 

 A large species with small panicles exceeded by the crowded blades, 

 1 in. wide and about 6 in. long. Native of Brazil. — C. quita, Kunth. 

 A freely branching arborescent species with numerous open panicles 

 and distant Ivs. scarcely ^i^n. wide. Native of Chile. — C. oaldi- 

 vensis, Desv., of Chile, is a slender climbing species with naked sts. 

 and numerous fascicled leafy flowering branches, the Ivs. 3-4 in. 

 long. — C. abietifdlia, Griseb. A climbing species with dense tufts of 

 short branches with Ivs. less than 2 in. long and about Hi^i- wide. 

 Native of the W. Indies. 



OXYTENANTHERA. A genus of the subtribe Eubambusea, of 

 tall, shrubby plants from the E. Indies and Afr., characterized by 

 long, cylindrical or conical spikelets in compact fascicles; the anthers 

 ending in a bristle. — O. abyssinica. Munro (Bambusa abyssinica, 

 Rich.). Infl. capitate, large and spiny: Ivs. about 6 in. long, 6-8 

 lines broad. Native of Trop. Afr. q t\ ■Reajjtb' 



BAMBURANTA (Bambusa and Maranta). Zingiher- 

 acex. A name applied to an undetermined plant with 

 maranta - like leaves and bamboo - like habit, from 

 the Congo Free State. B. Amoldiana, Lind. Lvs. 

 broadly ovate, acuminate, distinctly petioled, on long, 

 spreading, graceful stems; attrac- 

 tive as a pot-plant. G.C. III. 28: 

 313 (1900). 



BANANA, a name 

 applied to certain 

 species of Musa, 

 particularly to those 

 that produce edible fruits, 

 although it is sometimes 

 used for species gro\vn for 

 ornament , as for M usa 

 Ensete. There are three 

 groups of edible bananas: 

 the common banana, eaten 

 raw, Miisa sapienimn; the 

 plantain, fruits to be 

 cooked , M. pa radisiaca ; 

 dwarf, with edible fruits, 

 M. CavendUhii. The tirst 

 two are probably forms of 



462. Tip of flower-cluster 

 of banaaa. 



