INDIAN ВАМВОЗЕЖ; GAMBLE. 19 
not much swollen, but prominent on account of the persistent cup-like base of the 
fallen sheath; internodes 8 to 12 in. long, walls hard, over 71 in. in thickness; 
branchlets very many from the nodes, either all flowering and all leaf-bearing, or bearing 
both flowers and leaves together, joints short, reddish in colour, nodes prominent, 
bearing straw-coloured loose dry sheaths, Culm-sheaths 6 to 8 in. long, 2°5 to 3 in, 
broad at base, gradually attenuate upwards convexly to a :3 in. broad truncate point 
which is slightly ciliate; base with a thick ring of soft hairs, back sparsely covered 
with long bristles with bulbous bases; imperfect blade 1 to 15 іп, long, “1 to "2 іп, 
broad, subulate, hardly decurrent; ligule short, minutely pubescent. Leaves in terminal 
sets of 2 to 3, оп much-jointed, loose-sheathed, purple branchlets, oblong-lanceolate, 
attenuate at the base into a 2 in. long glandular petiole, ending above in a twisted 
setaceous point; glabrous but roughish on both surfaces, or faintly hairy beneath, 
scabrous on one edge; main vein narrow, shining, carried into the petiole, secondary 
veins 3 to 5 pairs, intermediate 5 to 7, transverse veinlets very prominent and regularly 
tessellate; leaf-sheaths loose, striate, 2 to 3 in. long, keeled, ending each side in a 
thickened shaggy callus below the petiole, and produced upwards at the margin to 
meet the ligule, and then bearing а few (6—8) long stiff purple bristles; ligule long, 
acute. or truncate. Inflorescence of many paniculate racemes clustered at the nodes of 
the culm, the joints of the branchlets bearing a large spathaceous bract enclosing 3 to 5 
spikelets with short pedicels; rachis smooth, slender, jointed; bract 15 to 2 in. long 
and “4 to 5 in. broad, reddish-brown or yellowish, ending in a fimbriate mouth and 
bearing a leaf like imperfect blade. Spikelets 1 to 2 in. long with 2 empty glumes 
and 4 to 8 fertile flowers, compressed; rachille clavate, curved, minutely white 
ciliate below the joint; empty glumes 2, pale, membranous, oblong-lanceolate, scabrous, 
mucronate, keeled, 5—7-nerved, glabrous; flowering glumes ovate, long acuminate, dark- 
coloured, scabrous-hirsute, prominently 9-nerved; pala nearly as long as flowering 
glumes, 2-keeled, minutely ciliate on the keels, ovate acuminate, usually bimucronate, 
scabrous, 2-nerved between and 2-nerved on either side of the keels. Lodicules lanceolate, 
acute, thickened below, 3-nerved, ciliate. Stamens exserted, anthers purple, blunt. Ovary 
ovate, surmounted by a short sfyle, speedily dividing into 3 feathery stigmas. Caryopsis 
dark brown, linear-oblong, glabrous, furrowed on the back, acute. T HAMNOCALAMUS 
SPATHIFLORUS, Munro in Trans. Linn. Soe, xxvi. 34 (partly). i | 
North-Eastern Himalaya in Sikkim and British Bhutan, especially on the Singalila 
Range above 10,000 ft.: collected in flower by Kurz in 1868; by C. B. Clarke at 
Yakla, 11,000 ft., in 1869; by C. G. Rogers at Tonglo, 10,000 ft.; and by G. A. Gammie 
at Phalut, 10,000 ft. in 1890. Leaf specimens have also been collected by 
H. C. Levinge, Kurz, G. King, myself and others in Sikkim, and above Chupcha in 
woods at 9,500 to 10,000 ft. by Griffith in Bhutan. fe 
This species comes very near to А. spathiflora, but after careful examination of 
several specimens I have come to the conclusion that it is specifically distinct, and that 
al the East Himalayan specimens placed by Munro under А. spathiflora belong to 
A. aristata. lt is а beautiful and interesting little bamboo, and differs in habit from 
A. spathiflora also in having broader bracts, enclosing several spikelets, shorter leaves, a 
hairy callus below the petiole which is longer, longer mucros to the flowering glumes, 
and a more acuminate palea which is nearly as long as the flowering glume, 
n Ad ie gives the name аз Bhébham (Bhutia), Babain (Lepcha). On the hills 
of Sikkim this species is easily recognized by the yellow culms and reddish branchlets. 
Ann. Вот. Bor. Garp. Слісотта, Vor. VII. 
