BACCHARIS BAMBUSA 231 



enough to have ever become widely cultivated. It is hardy at Kew, and is a 

 useful shrub for coast situations. 



B. PATAGONICA, Hooker. PATAGONIAN GROUNDSEL TREE. 



An evergreen shrub, of somewhat open but stiff habit, with angled, viscid, 

 rather scurfy twigs, densely furnished with leaves. Leaves obovate, rounded 

 at the apex, tapering at the base, stalkless, j to i in. long, half as wide ; 

 usually coarsely toothed towards the apex ; deep green above, scurfy on both 

 surfaces. Flower-heads stalkless or nearly so, produced singly in the leaf- 

 axils, yellowish white, and of little beauty. 



Native of Patagonia in the region of the Magellan Straits. It is quite 

 hardy at Kew, and is a rather interesting, small-leaved evergreen, growing 

 8 to 10 ft. high there, probably considerably more in warmer districts. It 

 blossoms in May, and this character as well as its stalkless, solitary flower- 

 heads and evergreen leaves, make it very distinct from B. halimifolium. It 

 can be increased by cuttings at almost any season. 



BAMBUSA. BAMBOO. GRAMINE^ 



The two species of bamboo here included under Bambusa are known 

 as such in gardens. They have, however, little in common, and the 

 generic name is only given provisionally ; the flowers of neither of them 

 have been produced in gardens, and until that happens their exact place 

 in the natural order of grasses must remain uncertain. For cultivation 

 and general remarks, see ARUNDINARIA. 



B. DISTICHA, Mitford. A dwarf bamboo, with stems i to i\ ft. high, most 

 of them about as thick as a lady's hatpin, zigzagged ; joints \ to 3! ins apart, 

 bearing solitary branches. Leaves arranged in two opposite rows j* f to 2^ ins. 

 long, to in. wide ; rounded at the base, pointed, bright green above, slightly 

 glaucous beneath ; both margins bristle-toothed, but one more than the other ; 

 secondary veins two or three each side the midrib ; leaf-sheaths hairy on the 

 margins. 



Native of Japan ; cultivated by Messrs Veitch in the "seventies" of last 

 century, and probably introduced for them by John Gould Veitch during the 

 previous decade. Its dwarf, erect stems and tiny, distichously arranged leaves 

 easily distinguish it from all other hardy bamboos. Before Lord Redesdale 

 gave it the above name it was erroneously known as " B. nana." 



B. QUADRANGULARIS, Fenzi. SQUARE-STEMMED BAMBOO. A bamboo up 

 to 30 ft. high in a wild state, but usually 6 to 12 ft. high in Europe. Stems 

 round in a small state, but distinctly four-sided (with rounded corners) when 

 in. or more thick. It is best distinguished in a small state by curious little 

 spine-like protruberances at the joints, which are probably arrested branches. 

 Joints of stem very prominently ridged. Leaves rich green, 4 to 8 ins. long, 

 to I in. wide, minutely hairy when young on both surfaces, and bristly on 

 both margins. 



Native of China and Japan ; introduced about 1892. This very 'distinct 

 bamboo is, unfortunately, not very hardy, and is killed to the ground at Kew 

 during all but the mildest winters, although never outright. It is, no doubt, 

 admirably adapted for the south-western counties, where its remarkable 

 quadrangular stems and generally ornamental character would make it well 

 worth cultivation. . Its runs freely, even at Kew, where the top growth is so 

 frequently killed. It is 12 ft. high on Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore. 



