252 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
that species. In the Gunnersbury Park Gardens there is a very fine 
specimen which reaches to a height of 18 feet. It has been sold also 
under the name of P. Mazeli, but that name seems now to have dropped 
out of most lists. The leaves are larger than in any other species of 
the Phyllostachys group. As this plant gains in vigour its culms 
become more erect, and it might mislead many as to its true 
character. We find it to be a most enduring plant, and in this respect 
one of the most reliable in our collection. 
Phyllostachys viridi-glaucescens.- — This species is a desirable one 
for any garden. Its stout much-branched stems create a density 
of habit; they spread away somewhat from the centre of the plant 
and give the appearance of a much larger plant than it actually 
is. Its leaves are of a deeper green than many, and are well retained 
through the season, even until early spring. It has about the hardiest 
constitution of any in my experience. I note that in one of the later 
catalogues of Messrs. Jas. Veitch this fact is borne out when 
they say " clothed with bright green foliage that continues fresh 
throughout the winter/' Its height so far with us is about 12 feet. 
The Bamboo in France. — In the south of France the Bamboo is 
a conspicuous feature in parks and gardens. Under the favourable 
conditions of warmth, moisture, and a genial soil it is somewhat 
surprising to see the semi-tropical luxuriance of the Bamboo. 
The finest I have ever seen in France were at M. Latour-Marliac's 
Nurseries at Temple-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne. There the largest 
stems were 9 inches in circumference at 4 feet above the ground, 
and the growth collectively was most remarkable. 
In Italy. — Around the Lake of Como, both at Cadenabbia and 
Bellagio, the Bamboo simply luxuriates, but I never noticed any quite 
so large as at M. Latour-Marliac's. The finest there were Phyllo- 
stachys mitis and Thamnocalamus Falconeri, the first named stately 
and erect, the latter most graceful and plumose, somewhat like a 
fountain of green. I noted too that in many instances the plants 
were placed so as to receive the water trickling down from above. In 
one garden the growths had all been cut down because of the density 
of the plant. The young canes would then quickly come away, the 
process to be repeated later on as occasion might require. The well- 
ripened canes in such a case would be invaluable for staking purposes. 
(I find myself that the canes cut out of such species as Phyllostachys 
aurea are most useful for this purpose ; these are not trimmed, but 
used just as they grow, with the spray upon them.) For a more de- 
tailed account of the Bamboo I would refer my readers to the late 
Lord Redesdale's work on the Bamboo and to Mr. W. J. Bean's 
work on Trees and Shrubs, in which the Bamboo is prominent. 
