February 4, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
361 
and work the soil well down round the ball on all 
sides. 
Erythrina crista galli.— Outdoors : You must start 
the plants in heat in order to have them well 
advanced by planting-out time, which will be about 
the end of May, if the season is an ordinary one. If 
you do not thus give them a start the plants would 
not bloom until very late in the season, and you 
would miss a good deal of their beauty, or they might 
not flower at all, which would be worse. You may 
let them rest for a little longer, but place them in 
heat about the middle of February ; certainly by the 
end of that month at the latest. 
HARDY BAMBOOS. 
(Concluded, from p. 42 .) 
Phyllostachys. 
P. nigra.— In the Bamboo garden at Kew the stems 
of this species shoot up to a height of 8 ft. to xo ft., 
but no doubt in the milder and more favoured parts 
of the country it will attain even a greater height. 
The main stems are slender, upright, but some of the 
in distinctness in proportion to the feebleness with 
which the black hue of the type is developed in this 
country. The twigs are usually more decidedly 
spotted than the main stems. Where the spotted 
character is well developed the variety is well worthy 
of a place in the Bamboo garden. In other respects 
it is in no way inferior to the type. Both keep their 
foliage well in winter. 
P. Quilioi. —In this we have another species of 
great intrinsic beauty, and quite distinct from any 
other. The young sheaths are marbled with dull 
pink on a green ground. The main stems vary from 
6 ft. to 10 ft. in length and, though erect, the twigs 
start off at an acute angle, or often arch over as they 
become weighted with foliage. They are of a deep 
green and, in this respect, differ from those of P. 
mitis and others of similar habit. The lanceolate 
leaves are 2^ in. to 3 in. long, by £ in. to xj in. in 
width, being widest a little above the base. The 
upper surface is of a rich green, and the lower one 
glaucous. The apex of the sheath is bearded with 
hairs that soon become brown. The plant is of close 
habit and very handsome, in fact, the species is one 
of the finest in the genus. The name was given in 
P. sulphurea. —The greenish-yellow stems of this 
Japanese species shoot up to a height of 6 ft. to 8 ft., 
and are furnished with thinly arranged, ascending 
twigs. The leaves are also thinly arranged, light 
green, lanceolate, and 2 in. to 3J in. in length. The 
glossy yellow stems are distinctive, but owing to the 
thinly arranged twigs and foliage, the species lacks 
the effect produced by others of a more leafy 
character. It is the Bambusa sulphurea of gardens, 
and the Madake, of Japanese gardens. 
P. violascens. — The young stems of this Japanese 
species are of a bronzy hue, which disappears as they 
mature, so that whether in summer or winter, finer 
effects in this direction would be obtained from the 
year-old shoots of Salix daphnoides, in this country. 
They, nevertheless, shoot up to a height of 8 ft. to 
10 ft. and vary from light to dark olive-green after 
they are some months old ; and are furnished with 
spreading and arching lateral shoots and twigs. The 
leaves are oblong-lanceolate, 3 in. to 5 in. long, 
finger-like, dark green above and glaucous beneath. 
The top of the leaf-sheath is bearded with coarse, 
dark brown hairs that mostly fall away during the 
first winter. It is the Bambusa violascens of gardens. 
Phyllostachys nigra. 
side ones forming the bush assume a gracefully arch¬ 
ing habit; the lateral twigs in all cases are relatively 
short, ascending, and very freely produced, so that 
all the main stems are beautifully furnished with 
foliage during the second year of their growth. The 
lanceolate leaves are small, being only ij in. to 3 in. 
in length, and of a glossy dark green hue. The 
specific name relates to the colour of the stems, 
which are green at first, but gradually assume a 
black hue from the second year onwards. In this 
country, however, the colour is only partial; but in 
the drier atmosphere and sunny skies of the Mediter¬ 
ranean littoral, the black hue is greatly intensified. 
The species is a native of Japan, in the gardens of 
which it has various names, such as Goma-dake, 
Kuro-dake, and Kuro-Chiku. In British collections 
it is sometimes met with under the name of Bambusa 
nigra. In the centre of the accompanying illustration 
may be seen one of the specimens at Kew, where the 
plant is more isolated than the photograph indicates, 
lhe species is really one of the neatest habited of all 
the taller growing ones, and is not inclined to fall 
over and overshadow its dwarfer neighbours. 
The variety P. nigra punctata has green stems, 
mottled and spotted with black, or they are black 
mottled with green, according to the predominance 
of one or other of the colours. As a variety it loses 
honour of Du Quilio, a French Admiral, who intro¬ 
duced the species from Japan. Other names for it 
are Bambusa Mazeli, and E Duquilioi, of gardens, 
and B. Quilioi, of Carriere. It is perfectly hardy as 
far north as London at least, and is deserving of 
extended cultivation. 
P. ruscifolia.— This is one of the most distinct 
and most easily recognised of all the Bamboos, being 
not unlike the Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) 
at some little distance off, as the specific name 
implies. It forms low, dense, dark dull green bushes, 
l i ft- to 32 ft. in height, the main stems being upright 
on the whole, but developing in a zigzag fashion from 
node to node, and furnished with very short twiglets. 
The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, 3J in. long, disposed 
nearly horizontally, of a dark olive-green above, and 
glaucous beneath. The plant is of neat habit and 
slow growth, so that it is always compact and 
manageable even in limited space. Near London 
the leaves are liable to get dirty in winter, but beyond 
the smoke radius it would no doubt greatly improve 
in brightness and attractiveness, for in form and 
habit it is certainly pretty. The species has several 
other names, such as Bambusa ruscifolia, Phyllos¬ 
tachys Kumasaca, P. Kumasasa, the Bambusa 
viminalis, of gardens, and Bungozasa, of the 
Japanese, of whose country it is a native. 
P. viridi-glaucescens.— While this is one of the 
most vigorous of all the Bamboos at Kew, and the 
widest or most spreading, though not the tallest, yet 
in graceful beauty it is by no means lacking. It 
requires a considerable amount of space for its per¬ 
fect development, yet in no sense of the word can it 
be considered coarse or ungainly. Planters should 
always select a place for it where it will neither 
interfere with anything nor be interfered with, and 
they will certainly be rewarded in due course. The 
finest specimen in the Bamboo garden was originally 
a sucker from an old established plant on the grass 
near the ruined arch and not far from the North 
Gallery. The stems are now 10 ft. to 14 ft. high ; 
and the spreading and gracefully arching bush has a 
diameter of twice the higher figure. The naked 
stems are greenish or yellowish, polished, and fur¬ 
nished with ascending and drooping twigs, thinly 
arranged at the rather distant nodes. The leaves are 
lanceolate, finger-like, light green above, glaucous 
beneath, and 3 in. to 7 in. in length ; the apex of 
their sheath is bearded. Many years in the open 
ground have proved the perfect hardiness of this 
species as far north as Kew at least, the handsome 
foliage being well retained all through the winter. It 
is the Bambusa viridi-glaucescens of Carriere; and 
is a native of North China. 
