36 



ceous, not withering when picked, and are in terminal clusters of 

 two. They have a rounded base and an attenuate tip which dies 

 back in the winter and is most always recurved The width is 

 1.4—1.7 cm., the widest part being 3^ the distance from the base. 

 The length of the leaf is from 7-8 cm. One edge is finely spinu- 

 lose and the blade is generally at right angles to the petiole. 

 The leaf sheath has erect bristly hairs at the throat. 



The reason the specific name "nidularia" which means 

 "little nest," was given this species of bamboo is because of the 

 resemblance of the inflorescence to a bird's nest. The compact 

 head-like clusters of grassy flowers appear annually on special 

 leafless shoots which are shorter then the others. I have found 

 flowers in full bloom in January when the ground was covered 

 with snow. Usually bamboos flower only after many years of 

 vegetative growth and then all culms burst into flower, set seed 

 and die. This apparent breaking up of the periodicity in this 

 species is an indication of an evolutionary step tending to bring 

 the life cycle more in line with the seasonal changes of modern 

 times. 



The Scrub Bamboo can be cultivated and trimmed into an 

 effective hedge. Its branches are also cut by the farmers and 

 made into coarse brooms. Without doubt it is the toughest 

 growth to break through and the sharp stubble will pierce even 

 shoe leather. 



Both of these bamboos though belonging to different genera 

 are monopodial, i.e., the culms spring singly from a running rhi- 

 zome ; they are about the same height; their leaves do not wither 

 when picked, a test of a hardy bamboo; and they inhabit waste 

 places. On the other hand they differ in the fact that Arundi- 

 naria nitida has purplish culms while those of Phyllostachys 

 nidularia are yellow; that the former has short branches four 

 or more in number while the latter has two which are longer 

 and of unequal length; and that the length of the internodes of 

 the former are longer than those of the latter. These two small 

 bamboos are the commonest of the hardy bamboos of East 

 China. 



New York, N. Y. 



