HARDY BAMBOOS. 
367 
it grew to a height of 6 ft. 6 in., having been only a foot high 
when first introduced. The gracefully arched, round stems are 
very slender, and of a dark purple colour, almost black. The 
leaves are of a more brilliant green on the upper surface, rather 
fairer underneath ; one edge is very minutely serrated ; the 
other is almost without teeth. The tessellated variation is very 
conspicuous even to the naked eye, whereas, by the bye, in 
Arundinaria khasiaiia the cross veins are specially stated to be 
most rare or absent. The length of the leaves is from two to 
three inches, the breadth about half an inch. The hairy pro- 
cesses on the leaf- sheaths are infrequent, and not persistent. 
The petiole is well defined. There is a lovely bloom like that 
on a plum or grape on the half of the merithal, which 
the sheath has covered. Arundinaria nitida seems to be a 
rather shy and retiring plant, dreading the full light of the 
sun, under which its leaves rapidly curl up. It should therefore 
be planted in a shady place. 
I have ventured upon this digression because these few words 
upon the subject of Arundinaria nitida are really the only 
novelty which I have to offer. 
The more frequently seen Arundinarias have not stood the 
winter so well. Arundinaria ja]Joyiica, or MHake, has suffered 
much. The culms of 1894 have nearly all been cut back ; the 
foliage now shown is indeed luxuriant, but is almost invariably 
borne upon stems of previous years. Arundinaria Simoni was 
badly mauled. Always a shabby plant in spring, it was this 
year an emblem of misery until midsummer. The persistent 
character of the dead leaf-sheaths greatly mars its value as an 
ornamental plant, and I often doubt whether it ought to be intro- 
duced in gardens, except where there is a collection of Bambuseae. 
Arundinaria japonica, on the other hand, is, after it has esta- 
blished itself, a noble plant, and in all but the most unfavourable 
years a real ornament to any garden. I once saw a green clump 
of it on a promontory jutting out into a piece of ornamental 
water in a garden on the borders of Epping Forest, which was a 
perfect picture of luxuriant subtropical vegetation. 
Another beautiful member of the family, which has for the 
most part come well out of the ordeal by frost and drought, 
is Bainhusa Castillonis, the " Kimmei chiku " of the Japanese. 
The variegation of this species, evidently a Phyllostachys, is 
