BAMBOOS: THEIR CULTURE AXD USES 13 
interrupted clusters of few (1 to 5) usually fertile long spikelets, supported 
by shining chalfy bracts ; rachis smooth, striate. Spikelets variable in length, 
1 to 3 inclies long, 0.2 inch broad, sessile, glabrous, cylindrical and acute at 
first, afterwards divided into many flowers separated by conspicuous rachillfe, 
bearing first 1 to 2 short bracts, then 2 to 4 usually gemmiparous empty glumes, 
then 4 to 6 fertile flowers, and finally 1 or 2 imperfect or male terminal 
flowers ; empty glumes acute, mauy-nerved ; flowering glume many-nerved, 
glabrous, striate, 0.5 to 1 inch long, 0.3 inch broad, ovate acute or acuminate, 
mucronate, sometimes minutely ciliate on the edges; palea rather shorter, 
boat-shaped, 2-keeled, with long white cili?e on the keels and penicillate at the 
tip, 5 to 7 nerves in the hollow between the keels ; rachill?s clavate, flattened, 
striate, glabrous except on the ciliate tip and occasionally the faintly ciliate 
edges, articulate below the glumes, so that the spikelet readily breaks up. 
Lodicules 3, 0.15 inch long, two cuneate. oblong, obliquely truncate thickened 
and fleshy below, especially on one side, hyaline and about 5-nerved above, 
the upper part long-white fimbriate ; the third not thickened, hyaline, acute, 
long-fimbriate. Stamens long exserted. anthers 0.3 to 0.4 inch, purple, glabrous, 
blunt at the tip or emarginate. Ovary obovate-oblong, white, hairy above, 
surmounted by a short hairy style which is early divided into 3 long plumose 
wavy stigmas. Caryopsis oblong, hirsute at the apex, furrowed, 0.3 inch long. 
Central and Eastern Bengal, Assam and Burma, also in the hills of the Norths 
ern Circars (if I am right in considering the common gregarious bamboo of 
the hills of the Golgonda Agency in the Vizagapatam district to be this species), 
and probably in those of Orissa. It is cultivated all through Eastern Bengal 
and Burma, and is probably the most common kind in the Lower Bengal rice 
country and in the Assam valleys. 
NAKED-CULM CLUMP BAMBOO' 
{Bam'bos vulgaris Schrad.) 
This is a very old species, having been described first in 1810. 
It is widely disseminated through the warmer portions of the globe 
and was doubtless in cultivation many years before it was described 
by botanists. Its widespread occurrence and variations in form 
have resulted in its being described many times; hence the list of 
synonyixLs for the plant is a formidable one. A feature about this 
bamboo that is quite noticeable is the presence of numerous leafless 
culms, these being the last ones formed. Some types of this bamboo 
are almost tropical in their tenderness; others will withstand con- 
siderable frost. The Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction 
has made several importations of this plant during the past 15 years 
and has some fine specimens of it growing in the Brooksville garden. 
Bamhos vulgaris is fairl}^ well disseminated in Florida and parts 
of California, as it was one of the forms early brought in by florists, 
seedsmen, and amateur plant growers. It is believed to be a native 
of the island of Madagascar and was introduced early into northern 
Africa and the regions of southern Europe along the Mediterranean 
Sea. (PL VIII.) A. and C. Riviere (ii), in their book on bamboos, 
give a long account of its growth. The form the department is 
growing at Brooksville has withstood temperatures as low as 18° F. 
without serious injury. This form is often met under the name 
Bambos or Bainbusa ihouarsii. While Bam'bos vulgaris is an orna- 
mental bamboo, it will also have its place in a utilitarian way on the 
farm and around the home. The culms are strong and heav}^, and 
while they do not last long when cut they may be made to serve 
many useful purposes. The plant may be characterized as follows : 
Culms grovdng in clumps 20 to 50 feet high, bright green or yellow and striped 
green and yellow ; naked at first except for the striking culm sheaths, 2 to 4 
inches in diameter, often zigzag or bent near the ground, walls thick, rather 
