1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1S1 
The Silver-Striped Bamboo. 
The name Bamboo is associated with the 
gigantic tropical and subtropical grasses, the 
stems of which grow 50 feet or more high, and 
are celebrated for their general use by 
the Orientals, to whom they serve for 
everything from a penholder to a mast. 
There are, however, some very humble 
bamboos, and at least one hardy one. 1 
Bambusa Metake. This is a Japanese tv 
species, two or three feet high, and en- 
dured the winter with us several de- 
grees north of New York City. Be- 
cently Mr. E. Bauman, Florist and Land- 
scape Gardener at Bahway, N. J., has 
brought to our notice a still more dwarf 
species, which has been introduced by 
the European florists under the name of 
Bambusa Fortunii alba vittata. The en- 
graving is made from a pot plant, of the — 
natural size. From the abundance of 
buds at the base it is no doubt a vigor- 
ous grower, and is said to continue 
dwarf and stocky and not exceed about 
a foot in night. Should this prove hardy, 
as Mr. Bauman thinks it will, it will be 
a valuable addition to our "foliage plants" 
of which we now have a great number, 
with but few hardy ones. The leaves 
are very distinctly marked, both the 
green and the white stripes being clear. 
The plant is apparently well adapted 
to form edgings in decorative planting, 
and a single plant would prove very or- 
namental in the border. A variety with 
green and yellow stripes is noticed in 
Europe, and either this, or the one under 
notice, is advertised as Bambusa Japon- 
iea variegata. There is much confusion in flo- 
rists' names, both in this country and Europe. 
Other plants constantly have their stamens and 
pistils in separate flowers of the same plant, as 
the cucumber, squash, and all of that family — 
and the Indian corn, in which the tassel con- 
tains the stamens, and the ear the pistils, the 
The Sex of the Strawberry. 
g 
From the fact that there are some varieties of 
strawberry, which, being pistillate, require the 
presence of some other sort to make them fruit- 
ful, many suppose that it is necessary in all cases 
to plant two kinds in order to bear fruit. We 
have several letters asking what variety should 
be planted with the Triomphe de Gand and 
other sorts that will fruit without aid. As this 
matter of the sex of strawberries has been 
muddled so much, we will try to make it plain. 
The great majority of flow r ers with which we 
are familiar, are perfect, i. e., have both pistils, 
PERFECT TLOWEHS. 
the organs that are to become the fruit, and sta- 
mens, the fertilizing organs, in the same flower. 
SILVER-STRIPED BAMBOO. 
elongated portion of which is the silk. In still 
another set of plants the flowers of one will 
bear pistils only, and the flowers of another will 
produce nothing but stamens. The hemp, hop, 
and willows are common instances of plants 
of this kind. The pistils, in each one of 
these classes are the portions that become fruit, 
Fig.: 
-SECTION OP FLOWER. 
but they only do this after they have received 
the influence of the pollen, a fine dust produced 
by the stamens. The pistils of perfect flowers, 
that have both stamens and pistils, may readily 
become fertilized by the pollen of the same flow- 
er, while in separated flowers, those in which 
the stamens are in one and the pistils are in 
another, no fruit will be produced unless pollen 
is brought to the pistils by some agency, such as 
insects or winds, from a staminate one. Some 
plants that ordinarily produce perfect flowers do 
sometimes have separated ones, the stamens and 
sometimes the pistils being suppressed or abor- 
tive, when the flower becomes pistillate or stami- 
nate as the ca9e may be. This happens in bolh the 
wild and the cultivated state with the strawberry 
and with the grape. In the strawberry it is usual- 
ly the stamens that are wanting, and in the grape 
it is more common to have the pistils absent, if 
either one. The engravings (figs. 1,2,3), of straw- 
berry flowers, very much enlarged, prepared for 
Fuller's Small Fruit Culturist, show the different 
parts quite distinctly, and a careful inspection 
of them will enable any one to tell a perfect— 
or hermaphrodite, as it is often called — from a 
pistillate flower. In fig. 1, the small knob in the 
center i3 the pistils, which are surrounded by 
numerous stamens. The same flower is shown 
in figure 2, as cut down through the 
center. The conical elevation in the 
center of this cut flower is the enlarged 
end of the stem of the flower, on which 
the pistils are placed, this is called the 
receptacle. The stamens are arranged 
around this, and outside of these the 
showy parts of the flower, the petals and 
calyx. As the pistils ripen, to produce 
the fruit proper — seeds we usually call 
them — the receptacle enlarges, becoming 
often of enormous size compared to what 
it was in the flower, and very often 
inclosing the seed-like fruits in deep 
pits or cavities, while in other cases 
these remain upon the surface. In several 
cultivated varieties of the strawberry, tho 
stamens are altogether wanting, as in 
fig. 3, and then the plant is said to be 
pistillate. It is evident that plants of 
this character need the help of those 
that produce stamens. The general ten- 
dency of strawberry cultivators is to dis- 
card pistillate sorts altogether, though 
there are a very few, like Hovey's Seed- 
ling, that in some localities are so excel- 
lent and productive, that it is desirable to 
grow them. Where this is the case, it 
is only necessary to plant adjacent beds 
of some perfect variety that blossoms at 
the same time, and the insects and winds 
will look after the fertilization. When 
a perfect variety is planted to fertilize 
a pistillate or imperfect one, great care 
should be taken to prevent the runners of 
one bed reaching across into the other bed. 
It is from carelessness in this respect, that there 
is so much confusion in regard to varieties, 
and this has also given rise to the common 
belief that pistillate plants become changed 
when fertilized by another sort. While we are 
not prepared to assert that the flavor of a pis- 
tillate sort may not be modified somewhat, ac- 
cording to the variety by which it was fertilized, 
yet we have no proof that the plant itself under- 
goes any change. To answer many inquiries, 
we may say that, practically, as far as the value 
of the fruit is concerned, strawberries in prox- 
imity do not mix. As regards the seeds, tho 
case is different; here the crossing is the rule 
rather than the exception. And this is apt to 
take place even with perfect flowers, as insect3 
PISTILLATE H.OWEIl. 
will Often bring pollen and fertilize the pistils 
of a flower, beforo its own pollen is ready. 
