NOTES ON GRASSES GROWING IN CEYLON* 



19 



" Thwaites mentions that the seed of this species is eaten 

 in Ceylon ; and it was probably this species which is referred 

 to in page 4 as having flowered so providentially in India .in 

 1866. The magistrate states : " It was the wild thorny kind 

 only which had flowered." — Munro 1. c. 105. It was more 

 likely to have been the B. arundinacea which was referred to, 

 as it is also spiny. *« This beautiful, middling-sized, very ele- 

 gant species I have only found in the vicinity of Calcutta, 

 where now and then some of the oldest are found to blossom 

 about the beginning of the raias in June. Like the other 

 species, this is employed for various useful purposes ; and as 

 it grows to a pretty large size, and with a smaller cavity than 

 any of the others, it is strong and well adapted for a variety 

 of uses." — Roxburgh 1. c. 



199. Bambusa nana, Roxh. Hort. Beng. 25. (1814) FL 

 Ind. ii., 199. Munro., 1. c. 89, Moon Cat. 29. C. P. 4,022.. 

 B. glauca, Loddige, &c, B. floribunda Zoll. B. csesia, Sieb. et 

 Zueo, B. glaucescens, Sieb. B. sterilis, Kurz. Arundinaria glau- 

 cescens, Pal. de Bearvu, and several other synonyms. See Pani- 

 cum ovalifolium, for note on Panicum arborescens, &c. This 

 is the dwarf or Chinese bamboo now naturalized in Ceylon. It 

 grows in dense entangled tufts, and is a very handsome plant,. 

 It is supposed that the Chinese umbrella handles are made 

 from the culms of this bamboo. 



" Whilst these pages were passing through the press, I 

 received some flowering specimens of this plant from Mr, 

 Thwaites, which have enabled me to ascertain that the opinions 

 which I have long entertained, as stated above at p. 22 regard- 

 ing the identity of B. nana and Arundinaria glaucescens, are cor- 

 rect." * * " Thwaites says in a note attached to the specimen - 

 4 Flowers usually imperfect ; I can see no ripe seeds forming.' 

 6 It is very closely allied to B. tulda'— Munro 1. c. 90-1 . i It 

 is the Keu-fa of the Chinese. It makes most beautiful close 



