LENGTH OF THE LIFE CYCLE OF A CLIMBING BAMBOO 
87 
1885 it flowered generally. Hart adds, ''It flowered also in 1886 or rather 
continued flowering from 1885." 
That the outcome of the recent flowering of Chusquea — the death of 
all mature plants and their replacement by innumerable seedlings — is 
identical with that following the last general flowering 33 years ago, is evident 
Fig. 3. An old basal culm of Chusquea abidifolia with a long, young, leafless shoot. 
from the writings of the early observers. Morris (5) tells the story in this 
manner: The Chusquea "began to shed its leaves and to assume a dull, 
rusty color. . . . When the seed was set the stem began to die down, and 
apparently every plant in the island died, root and all. At the present time 
(1886) the ground in the forests where the Chusquea grew is covered with 
millions of seedlings, and in due time these will take the place of the former 
generation." 
In 1884 some plants of Chusquea were sent in a Wardian case to the 
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Hooker, referring to the Kew plants, 
wrote: "In December last (1884) they suddenly burst into flower causing 
me to fear that, after the manner of so many species of this most remarkable 
tribe of grasses to which they belong, they may not survive the flowering 
