39 



runners above ground. They have continued to hold their own in 

 that one spot, changing- only from the mossy base of one tree to 

 that of another. This place is just on the border line where the 

 ''old growth" type of vegetation meets the tangle of a sunny 

 second-growth. 



Sometimes the graceful runners are swinging free, some- 

 times they have just penetrated the moss enough for the tuber to 

 form. Last summer (1900) after the extreme drought I was un- 

 able to find a specimen in the old place for a long time, but one 

 plant finally appeared with a well developed tuber and the same 

 characteristics as in previous years. I was once attracted to what 

 appeared to be a similar condition of growth in Tricntalis, but it 

 proved to be another interesting phase of life. A couple of these 

 plants were growing on the moss covering of an old fence log. 

 When the white underground runners reached the perpendicular 

 end of the log and lost the covering of moss, they assumed the rich 

 color of the aerial runners and swung out free over the edge in- 

 stead of following out the root instinct and seeking the dark 

 again. Here again the pink spots on the white runners showed at 

 intervals the effect of the light. — Robina Silsbee Smith in 

 Rhodora. 



BAMBOO SEED AS FOOD. 

 "It would not appear to be very generally known," says a 

 writer in the Indian Forester, "that the seed of the bamboo is not 

 only fit for consumption by man, but that, in this corner of India, 

 it is being collected and so consumed to an extent sufficient to 

 ameliorate a very pronounced local scarcity. How far outside 

 the Dharwar District the seeding is taking place I am unable to 

 say. It undoubtedly extends some distance into Kanara. Here 

 two taluqas are alone involved. In them it is rarely possible to 

 meet with a single culm not undergoing the process. The ap- 

 proximate area may be stated at 75,000 acres, extending fifty 

 miles from north to south, along belts three to eight miles broad. 

 It is generally admitted in this area that but for this prolific seed- 



