﻿48 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



42649 to 42673— Continued. 



" The culms when young are covered with dark brown to purple spots, 

 which spread as it grows older until the whole culm becomes dark 

 brown, almost black, except just below the nodes, where there is an 

 ash-gray line. This dark color at once distinguishes the species from 

 all other Japanese sorts. Branch buds are brown, mottled with black. 

 There is a great variation in the intensity of this dark color of the 

 culms, and this is said to vary with the kind of soil upon which the 

 plants are grown and the amount of sunlight to which they are exposed. 

 . . . Nothing could exceed the delicate beauty of the groves of this 

 species which are to be seen near Kyoto. Their dark stems, ash-gray 

 nodes, and light-green foliage make them unique among decorative 

 plants. The uses of this species are limited to the manufacture of furni- 

 ture, numerous household articles, and fancy fishing poles, for all of 

 which these black bamboos are peculiarly suited." (D. G. Fairchild, 

 Japanese Bamboos, Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. J/3, p. 29.) 

 For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 37555. 



42664. Phyllostachys bambusoides Sieb. and Zucc. Poacese. 



Bamboo. 



This is one of the finest hardy bamboos, very hardy and free growing, 

 with stems 10 to 18 feet high, and long branches. Stem sheaths are 

 pinkish when young, conspicuously mottled with deep purple. The leaves 

 are among the largest in the hardy Phyllostachys group, varying from 2\ 

 to 6 inches long, one-half to \\ inches wide, bright green above, glaucous 

 beneath. (Adapted from W. J. Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the 

 British Isles, vol. 2, p. 152.) 



" The arrow bamboo is that of which the stems are still employed in 

 the manufacture of the fine Japanese arrows used generally for archery 

 purposes. It is not very commonly seen in gardens, so far as observed, 

 even in Japan, and the arrow makers, it is said, get their main supply of 

 stems from wild plants. There are some of these manufacturers in the 

 town of Shidzuoka, but the demand for arrows is so small that they are 

 doing a poor business. This species is distinguished from others by the 

 fact that it does not have an actively creeping rootstock. Each plant 

 forms a separate small clump by itself. The hardness of the culms, their 

 small cavity, and the smoothness of the nodes, as well as their small 

 size, are characteristics that well adapt them for arrow making. This is 

 believed to be a hardy species, and it is quite unlike the ordinary bamboos 

 in appearance." (D. G. Fairchild, Japanese Bamboos, Bur. Plant Indus. 

 Bui. J,3, p. 30.) 



42665. Phyllostachys bambusoides maeliacea Houzeau. Poacese. 



Bamboo. 

 A variety of Phyllostachys bambusoides, distinguished by the curious 

 wrinkling of the stems, especially toward the base. It does not appear 

 to be so vigorous as the species, but behaves more like P. mitis in regard 

 to hardiness. (Adapted from W. J. Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in 

 the British Isles, vol. 2, p. 152.) 



42666. Phyllostachys kumasaca (Zoll.) Munro. Poacese. Bamboo. 



A pretty bamboo, suitable for a damp spot in the rock garden, being 

 of a neat, tufted habit. It is one of the most distinct of all hardy bam- 

 boos, especially in its sturdy, zigzag stem (1 to 2 feet high, very much 



