RHODODENDRONS, AZALEAS, BAMBOOS 107 
Bamboos, which are really woody grasses, are chiefly valued by 
the landscape gardener because of their exceeding gracefulness. 
^ . pi They represent a type of vegetation quite alien to that 
in the ^ rea * Britain, and more characteristic of tropical 
Garden than of temperate regions. But whilst some tropical 
bamboos grow a hundred feet high or more, the stature 
of the species cultivated in Britain is limited to twenty or twenty- 
five feet. So different in character are bamboos from ordinary shrubs 
that it is desirable to keep them as isolated individuals, or in a spe- 
cially selected area by themselves, as is done here. They strike an 
incongruous note if they are associated with the ordinary material 
used in shrubberies. All the species that are hardy in a climate 
such as that of Kew are represented in this garden, as are also many 
allied plants, such as the pampas grasses, the species of Miscanthus, 
hardy Yuccas, Smilaxes, etc. 
