March 5, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



119 



whilst in large conservatories, where they would get protec- 

 tion from cold in winter, a still greater number would be found 

 to thrive. That they are much superior to many of the plants 

 at present used for such positions must be evident to any one 

 acquainted with the extraordinary elegance and grace of a 

 well-grown Bamboo. 



"The Kew collection comprises over fifty named sorts, a few 

 of which are tropical, whilst the bulk of them are either quite 

 hardy or require only the temperate conditions supplied by 

 the winter-garden. 



"The names of Bamboos are as confusing as are, those of 

 garden Palms. In one as in the other it is only very rarely 

 that the plants iiower under cultivation, so that many of the 

 names, which are given by nurserymen, can only be problem- 

 atical. For garden purposes this would not be of much con- 

 sequence, the difficulty arising only when growers do not 

 agree as to what names the plants shall bear. 



" Now that so many kinds of Bamboos are in cultivation 

 under favored conditions on the Riviera, it would be worth 

 while to watch them, and as they Mower, get them properly 

 determined. 



"It is generally supposed that nearly every member of the 

 Bamboo order perishes immediately after flowering. There 

 are many recorded instances of this having occurred. But 

 with regard to a considerable number of the species the exact 

 flowering age has not been ascertained. Some are said to 

 grow forty years before flowering. Another remarkable fact 

 is that all the plants of one generation flower at the same 

 time, no matter how different may be the conditions in which 

 they happen to be placed. I was told that all the plants of 

 Thamnocalamus Falconeri {Bambusa gracilis) of the Riviera 

 flowered and died last year. Numerous seedlings have since 

 sprung ii]) about the old stools, but the latter certainly all per- 

 ished. This proved to be the case with a plant of Arundi- 

 nariafalcata, which flowered at Kew in 1886. 



"The following are the kinds noted. The names in brackets 

 are what I consider to be the correct names, according to 

 Munro, etc. 



"B. aurea. — A Japanese species, now well known in 

 gardens. It was in cultivation at Kew in 1866, and is here 

 still. It is one of the most elegant of the hardy Bamboos. 

 In the gardens of the Acclimatization Society, at Hyeres, 

 there is a magnificent specimen with stems twenty-five feet 

 high, and not more than one and a half inches in diameter. 

 The nodes are prominent, and less than four inches apart on 

 the lower part of the stem. When ripe the stems are of a rich 

 greenish yellow color. The leaves are small, with a distinct 

 petiole. 



"B. gigantea (Dendrocalamus giganteus).— The largest of all 

 the Bamboos. The specimen in the Palm House, at Kew, pro- 

 duces stems forty feet long and twelve inches in circumfer- 

 ence, but wild plants have stems as much as twenty-six inches 

 round. In the garden at Villa Valetta, Cannes, there is a very 

 . fine mass, with stems thirty feet high and four inches in 

 diameter. It is a native of India. 



"B. gracilis [Thamnocalamus Falconeri). — A slender and 

 somewhat fragile stemmed plant from the Himalayas. It is not 

 uncommon in gardens, as it makes an elegant pot plant. It was 

 plentiful on the Riviera till last year, when all the plants flow- 

 ered. There is a plant at Hyeres called B. gracilis rustica, in 

 which the leaves are narrow, with incurved margins. 



"B. Ma se Hi, Hort. — Fine masses atHyeresandatCannes. The 

 stems are twenty-five feet high, bright yellow when mature, 

 the nodes prominent and close together at the base, the 

 branches loose, and the leaves short and twisted on the 

 petiole. It looked suspiciously like B. aurea. 



"B. Metake {Arundinaria Japonica). — Much used on the 

 Riviera, where it is as ornamental as it usually is in England. 

 It is always strongest when grown near water, although it 

 grows well in an ordinary border. At Kew there is a speci- 

 men twelve feet high. According to Munro it is known as B. 

 mitis in the gardens of Paris. 



"B. mitis. — A magnificent specimen on the lawn at Villa Val- 

 etta, the stems thirty feet high and three inches in diameter at 

 the base, becoming shining yellow with age. The nodes are 

 prominent and about nine inches apart, the leaves short and 

 not dense. There is a small plant of it at Kew, obtained last 

 year from Lavalle"e's collection. It is said to be from Cochin 

 China. 



"B. (Phyllostachys) nigra. — A clump of this, twenty yards 

 through and rising to a height of thirty feet, in the gar- 

 den of Baron Vigier at Nice, was one of the most striking ob- 

 jects seen on the Riviera, thousands of naked, shining, black- 

 ish purple stems rising from the lawn and losing themselves 

 in the mass of green foliage above. This species is quite 



hardy in England, but it does not grow to its full height ex- 

 cept when in a very sheltered situation or under glass, as at 

 Chatsworth, where in the large conservatory it is exceedingly 

 handsome. 



"B. quadrangularis, a very interesting species from China, 

 with stems fifteen feet high by one inch in diameter, and dis- 

 tinctly quadrangular; the nodes are armed with decurved 

 teeth-like spines. These dimensions are of a clump six feet 

 through on one of the lawns at Villa Valetta. There are plants 

 at Kew, both outside and in the temperate house. It is a 

 handsome and distinct Bamboo. For an account of it see an 

 article in Nature, vol. xxxii. (1885), p. 391. 



"B. Quilloi. — I cannot find any information with regard to 

 this plant. Carriere described a Bamboo in the Revue Horti- 

 cole, under the name of B. Duguilioi, but Munro appears to 

 have referred this to Pliyllostachys puberula, included by him 

 under P. nigra. The plant known under the above name is 

 represented at Hyeres by a large clump with stems twenty-live 

 feet high, one and a half inches in diameter, bright yellow, 

 with a faint tendency to become quadrangular. We have a 

 plant of it at Kew. It is a most elegant Bamboo. 



"B. scriptoria, Hort. (B. nana). — I believe that B. fcriptoria 

 of the Riviera gardens is merely a form of the well known 

 Chinese B. nana. It has the same dense habit, thin green 

 canes, and small leaves with the under side glaucous, which 

 characterize B. nana. In some of the specimens seen the 

 stems were nine feet high. A variegated form called B. scrip- 

 tionis is the same as is grown at Kew as B. nana variegata. 



"B. Simoni, a beautiful Bamboo, and perfectly hardy in Eng- 

 land, as is shown by the fine example in the Cambridge 

 Botanic Garden, and by the plants at Kew. It is also very 

 handsome at Hyeres, where the canes are fifteen feet high", 

 quite smooth and cylindrical, less than an inch in diameter 

 and colored deep olive green. This plant is worth the atten- 

 tion of English horticulturists on account of its elegance and 

 hardiness, and its evergreen character. 



"B. sulphurea. — Apparently a garden name for a very hand- 

 some Bamboo, with stems eighteen feet high, one and a half 

 inches in diameter, the nodes nine inches apart, and the 

 internodes deeply furrowed on one side. When mature the 

 stems are rich orange-yellow in color. There is a fine mass 

 of it at Villa Valetta. It is also in the Kew collection. 



"B.verticillata. — This is probably the 'Male Bamboo' (Den- 

 drocalamus strictus), a common Indian species, the stems of 

 which, according to Munro, are universally used as lance- 

 staves. The specimens seen were large clumps, the stems 

 twenty feet high, one inch in diameter, the nodes at the base 

 a foot apart, the upper ones bearing each a crowded cluster of 

 short leafy branches. When old, the stem is bright yellow. It 

 is a well marked, handsome Bamboo. 



"B. violescens. — A beautiful Chinese Bamboo which was intro- 

 duced to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in 1870, in the branch of 

 which at Hyeres a fine clump was noted. The stems are ten 

 feet high, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, much branched 

 toward the top, the internodes somewhat flattened on one 

 side, and striped with violet on a greenish yellow ground. 

 The leaves are glaucous on the under side. Young plants of 

 it are in the Kew collection. 



"B. viridi-glaucescens, Hort. — One of the handsomest of cul- 

 tivated Bamboos. It is quite hardy in England, and in France 

 it is one of the commonest. It grows very rapidly, has hand- 

 some foliage, transplants easily, and is a first-rate pot plant. It 

 is frequently used in France for the embellishment of entrance 

 halls, and is very effective. The stems of the Riviera plants 

 were over twenty feet high, very slender, the nodes about a 

 foot apart, dark green when young, bright yellow when 

 mature. 



"B. vulgaris (B. TJioursii). — Some astonishingly large, 

 healthy specimens of this well known species were" met with. 

 Apparently it does not require tropical treatment such as it 

 usually gets. At Hyeres, Cannes and Nice it is especially 

 fine, in the last named place measuring forty feet through 

 and the canes thirty-five. feet high. The plant in the Palm 

 house at Kew must be thirty years old ; it has not yet 

 flowered." 



Palms are the most prominent feature in many of the towns 

 of the Riviera, and the chief beauty of many gardens is pro- 

 duced by groups or single specimens of Palms of various 

 kinds. At Hyeres the common Dale Palm is used as a street 

 tree, and at Bordighera this Palm is extensively cultivated for 

 the sake of its leaves, which are used for the decoration of 

 churches and are sent as far away as to Paris. No less than 

 sixteen genera of Palms are represented in these gardens. 

 Mr. Watson describes the Washingtonia, the Desert Palm of 

 California, as " one of the glories of the Riviera," and 



