DIFFERENT SPECIES. 27 



these characters. The difficulty in using them, however, is that the 

 sheaths are only obtainable in the season when there are young shoots. 

 Mr. Mitford points out that the form and coloration of the winter 

 buds in the axils of the branches, from which new branches develop, 

 are important means of distinguishing the species. The characters 

 which determine whether a bamboo belongs to the Bambusa^ Phyl- 

 lostachys, or Arundinaria genera, which are all it is necessary to con- 

 sider here, are unfortunately largely floral ones and for practical 

 purposes nearly useless. The genus Bambusa belongs to a section 

 (Bambusse verse) in which the flowers have six stamens, while Phyllos- 

 tachys and Arundinaria "both belong to the Triglossde, section, where 

 the flowers have three stamens. Arundinaria is distinguished from 

 Phyllostachys by having round stems, while those of the latter are 

 grooved or slightly flattened on one side. The sheaths in Arundinaria 

 remain attached much longer than in Phyllostachys, as a rule those of 

 the latter genus dropping off as soon as the culms are mature. 



Phyllostachys Mitis, A. & C. Riviere. 



(Japanese name : ' ' Moso-chihu " or " Mouso-chiku. ' ' ) 



The largest hardy species in Japan, growing to a height of over 50 

 feet and producing, not uncommonly, culms over 6 inches in diameter. 

 In England specimens have been grown to a height of 19 feet and a 

 diameter of 1^ inches. The cidms are gently curved shortly after leav- 

 ing the ground, while those of other sorts with which it might be con- 

 fused rise straight from the base. (Compare figs. 1 and 3, PI. IV.) 

 Its sheaths are of a light-brown color, marked with dark umber-brown 

 blotches and round dots and covered with bristles. The pseudophyll is 

 broad at the base, tapers to a point, but is not wavy in outline. The sheath 

 spreads right and left from the base of the pseudophyll and is fringed 

 throughout with hairs, which' are straight when they lie between the 

 pseudophyll and the stem, but curled on the right and left sides where 

 the}^ are free to develop. The inter nodes are generally shorter than 

 those of the other large species and the leaf sheaths are fringed at the 

 insertion of the leaf with a number of rather coarse hairs. The branch 

 buds are purplish brown and strongly marked. The leaves vaiy from 

 1 to 6 inches in length and are too variable to be convenient characters 

 for quick determination. This is the great edible bamboo of Japan 

 and China, the method of cultivation of which has been described. It 

 is not as hardy in England as Phyllostachys quilioi and P. henonis. 



Phyllostachys Quilioi, A. & C. Riviere. 



(Japanese name: "Madake.") 



The second largest hardy species, growing to a height of 30 to 40 

 feet in Japan and 18 feet in England, with a diameter of 1 inches and 

 li inches, respectively. The great timber bamboo of the Japanese. 



