662 CXII. GRAMINE.E 



terminal, is 2-keeled as a rule and strongly ciliate along the keels. Enclosed by 

 palea and flowering glume is a one-celled ovary with a terminal style, with 2 or 

 3 linear plumose stigmas, surrounded by 3 or 6, rarely more stamens, and in 

 most genera by 2 or 3 membranous, often ciliate scales (lodicules). Anthers 

 2-celled, cells parallel, contiguous, opening longitudinally. Fr. in some genera 

 with a thick, more or less fleshy, but more usually thin crustaceous or mem- 

 branous pericarp (caryopsis). Seed as a rule with a large mealy endosperm, 

 embryo small, basal on the outside. Embryo with a broad, fleshy cotyledonary 

 body (scutellum) contiguous to the endosperm. Some genera (Dinochloa, 

 Melocalamus, Melocahna and Ochlandra) have no endosperm in the ripe 

 seed, and the germinating embryo derives its nourishment through a very 

 large scutellum from the pericarp. 



In regard to their habit of flowering, Bamboos may be divided into three 

 great classes. First, those which flower annually or nearly so, the flower 

 panicle terminating leaf-bearing culms. Instances : Arundinaria Wightii, 

 Bambusa lineata, Ochlandra stridula. In these cases the plant does not 

 die after flowering. Second, those which flower gregariously and periodically, 

 all culms of one clump and all clumps in one district flowering simultaneously. 

 The leaves fall, and the whole culm is one huge flowering panicle. In these 

 cases the culms die after ripening their seed, and usually the underground 

 rhizome also dies. Instances : Bambusa polymorpha, arundinacea, Melo- 

 canna bambusoidcs. The area over which these species flower simultaneously 

 is circumscribed. In different districts they flower at different times. (Ind. 

 Eor. xxv. 10.) Third, irregularly flowering species. One or a few culms in 

 one clump, or a few clumps in one locality, are in flower at any one time, 

 while at other times all culms of one clump and all clumps in one district are 

 simultaneously covered with flowers. Instances : Oxytenanthcra albociliata, 

 Dendrocalamus strictus, D. Hamiltonii, Cephalostachyum peryracile. The 

 majority of species belongs to the third class. Some species may be considered 

 to hold an intermediate place, but as a rule it will be found convenient to 

 maintain the three classes here indicated. It should here be mentioned that 

 offsets taken from a clump some time before it flowers come into flower at the 

 same time as the parent clump. There are indications, that in dry stony 

 places and in exceptionally dry seasons Bamboos flower earlier and more 

 abundantly. 



In districts where clearings are made for purposes of . temporary cultivation 

 '(Taungya, Dhya, Kumri) in Bamboo Forest, it will be found that in the secondary 

 growth, which springs up after the crop has been reaped and the fields have been 

 •deserted, different species of Bamboo show a different behaviour. In a forest consist- 

 ing of tufted species a mass of tall grasses and large herbs, together with the coppice 

 shoots of trees and some seedlings will usually form the second growth, in which the 

 slender shoots coming up from the burnt Bamboo clumps, only gradually assert 

 themselves. The huge and intricate mass of rhizomes of a tufted species is close to 

 and often partially above the surface, and hence suffers more damage from the 

 Taungya fire than the long branches of the rhizome of single-stemmed species, which 

 as a rule are at some depth underground. As a matter of fact, when Taungyas are 

 ■cut in forests of single-stemmed species, the second growth frequently consists entirely , 

 •of a dense mass of Bamboos. There are however exceptions ; thus in the Shan States 

 east of the Salween river the second growth over large areas is reported to consist 

 ■entirely of Oxytenanthera albo-ciliata, a densely-tufted species (H. N. Thompson, in 

 Forest 'Report Southern Circle Upper Burma, 1900-1901, p. 50). 



When after the flowering of Bamboos in a certain district the fires of the hot 

 season have swept away the tangled mass of dry stems, the next rainy season produces 

 millions of seedling Bamboos, which soon grow up into slender plants, 2-3 ft. high, 

 forming dense waving green masses on the ground. Among these millions of plants 

 the stronger gradually get the upper hand, and these in course of time develop into 

 those remarkable rhizomes, consisting in tufted species of innumerable stout 

 twisting and interlaced branches, which produce the leaf-bearing culms. The de- 

 velopment of Bamboo seedlings into a clump is a most remarkable process, which has 

 not yet been sufficiently studied (cf. Brandis, in Ind. For., xxv. 4). Nor has it yet 

 "been ascertained how many j'ears a seedling requires to form a clump consisting of 

 iull-sized stems. In the case of Bambusa polymorpha and arundinacea the period is 



