111 
I have added nothing; for it obvious that a botanist of 
Mr, Gamble’s ability and wide esieriéhdo 80 bmp of the Indian 
Bamboos in their native forests, having acce o the unrivalled 
collections in the Herbarium of the Caleutta Gide, should. have 
exhausted the bet in so far as materials were available. It must not 
‘be supposed that this work supersedes his ‘Bamboos of British India, 
which is indispensable to the student of the tribe, by reason of its fuller 
descriptions, and admirable [even and analyses. My cordial thanks are’ 
directly due to Dr. King and Mr. Gamble for this generous contribution 
the ‘Flora of British India,’ and indirectly for the authentieally named: 
collection of specimens corresponding to Mr. Gamble’s descriptions, 
which has been presented by the Government of India to the Herbarium 
of the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
* Since the above was written, Mr. Freeman Mitford’s The Bamboo 
Garden has appeared, a work replete with valuable observations upon 
- habit, mode of growth, and other characters of the hardy 'epétidicae 
mboo ‘(including 5 caper cultivated by him. In it is pointed out 
(i Arundinaria Simoni, p. 60) for the first time the true characters of 
the two types of dicam - and blade that occur in Bambusee, and which 
do not obtain, so far as I know, in any other tribe of e ses. Ina 
communication which Mr. Mitford has been good enough to make to me 
on this subject he has formulated his views as follows, and has kindly 
allowed me to introduce them here. 
“ The sheath is an organ playing so important a part in the life of the 
bamboo that it deserves som ething more than a cursory notice. In the 
grasses i the sheath is regarded by botasiste as taking the place 
of the petiole of the leaf. It happens, however, that the leaves of most 
pom mei of all the hardy bamboos—have a distinct continuation 
of the midrib of the leaf attaching it to the sheath and articulated, which 
pede aBer EA might perhaps be correctly termed a petiolule. The 
bamboos, as it appears, bear sheaths of two types. There is first of all 
the series of sheaths which, borne one on each node and wrapped tightly 
round the culm or branch, às the case may be, protect it during growth. 
This form of sheath is divided or split transversely into two members, 
the ligule and the limbus or blade, the latter being what I would term a 
pseudophyll, or false leaf, sessile, lacking both midrib and berigte 
varying in size in the different species, but always the first part to wither 
and disappear. In some bam boos—those of the ie rectc — 
this sheath falls away as soon as branching takes place; in ot 
the Arundinaria group, it remains, and having guarded the iy iR 
growth of the parent culm or branch it springs aside with the youn 
branches or branchlets, devot pert M remainder of its life to their 
protection until they can stand a 
“Then there is the second Anh of sheath bearing a true leaf with 
petiole and midrib, This is the form assumed by the twe, three, or four 
es at the top of each culm branch and branchlet above the topmost 
where ME ends. This true leaf is persistent upon the 
bes: The ligule is present, as in the first type, but the deciduous 
peeudophy Il is «Andi by an evergreen lea 
** An interesting qnestion arises as to whether there is any transition 
stage between the two types of blade, or whether the change is always 
sudden, I think that in many Bamboos I can trace such a transition 
stage; that is to say, that each successive pseudophyll on the stem 
U 95709. 
