m
Ô-2 ANNALS OF THE KOTAL BOTANIC GAEDEN, CALCUTTA.
with green and evou red, yariable in shape and size, but ninning np to 12 to 15 iu. in
length and 9 to 12 in. in breadth, striate, somewhat rounded at the top and plaited on the
edges, thickly ciliate with golden hairs when young, otiierwise glabrous ; imperfect Uade
triangular, up to -i iu. long, shai-ply pointed, concave with involute margins, greenishyellow
when young, glabvo\is without, densely clothed "within with a thick purple or
brown or black felt of bristly hairs, the margins dccurrcnt on the sheath, wavy, plaited,
long and thickly ciliated, but hardly auiicled; ligide uai-row, entire, or fringed with whitish
hairs. Leaves lincar-lanceolate or linear, very variable iu sizo, up to 7 to 8 iu, long and
1 in. broad, rounded at the base into a short, often swollen, '1 in. petiole; ending above
in a sharp stiff point ; glabrous above except for long hairs near the base, glabrous or
puberulous beneath; scabrous on one or both margins, and ciliate towaa-ds the base;
main vein narrow, pale, secondary veins 4 to 6, intermediate 7 to 9, transverse veinlcts
none, but regular pellucid glands at intervals; leaf-sheath striate^ glabrous or slightly
pubescent, ending in a thick, often ciliate, callus and a short auricle furuished with a few
stiff, curvcd, white, deciduous bristles, edges ciliate ; ligide short. Inflorescence an enormous
panicle, often formed by a whole culm, branchlets spicate with loose clusters of about 5
pale spikelets; rachis variable, usually stifî, sinning, smooth, sometimes dull, striate,
occasionallj' angular and soft, almost fistular. Spikelets lanceolate, acute, '5 to 1 in. long,
•2 in. broad, sessile, glabrous except for the prominent ciliate edges of the palea, consisting
of 2, 1 or no empty glumes, then 3 to 7 flowers, the lower ones hermaphrodite, the
upper male only, finally one to three imperfect flowers ; empty and flowering glumes ovatelanceolate,
acute or mucronate, many-nerved, glabrous, '2 to '3 in. long; palea slightly longer,
2-keeled, ciliate on the keels, sub-acute. Lodicules three, small, hyaline, ovate, fimbriate on
the edges, one usiially longer and more acute, 1- to 3-nervcd. Stamens exserted, drooping,
filaments slender; anthers yellow, obtuse, sometimes with an apiculato bristle. Ovary ellipticoblong,
glabrous esccpt at the tip; style short, glabrous, soon dividing into 3 long plumose
stigmas. Caryopsis oblong, -2 to -3 in. long, smooth, grooved on one side, ending in a short
beak formed by the base of the style, always surrounded by the persistent glume and
palea, embryo conspicuous. Roxh. Coram. PI. i. 56, ¿.79; Eort. Bong. 25 (1814) ; J/id.
ii. 191; PoîV. Enie. viii. 701; Spreng. Byst. Veg. ii. 112; Link Eort. Berol i. 249; SchuUes
Syst. Veg. vii. II. 1340; Kunth 3ium. 431; Graham Bombay Cat. 239 (1839); Dak. and
Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 299; Ruprecht Bamb. 51, tab. xiii. fg. 50; Munro in Trans. Linn. Soe.
xxvi. 103 ; Brandis For. Flora 56i ; Beddome Flora Sylv. ccxxxi. t. ccxsi. ; Kurz For. Fl.
Bm-ma ii. 554; Thwaites Enum. F I. Zeyl. 375; Voigt Eort. Sub. Calc. 719; lib. Eeyne Wall.
Cat. 5023A. BAJIBUSA spi^osk, Roxb. Eort. Beng.^ô-, Fl. Ind. ii. 198; Buch.-Eam. in Trans.
Linn. Soc. xiii. (1822) 480, Wall. Cat. 5024; Nees in Linn. ix. (1834) 475; Spreng. Syst.
Veg. ii. 112; Rxipr. Bamb. 52 tab. fig. b2, tab. sin. fig. 53; Mmro in Trans. Linn.
Soc. sxvi. 104; Beddome Flora Sylv. ccxxxi; Brandts For. Flora 566; Steudel Syn. 329;
Benth in Fl. Eongk. 434; Voigt Eort. Stih. Calc. 719. BAMBUSA CEIENTALIS, Nces in Linn.
ix. (1834) 475; Rupr. Bami. tab. xiii. fig. 51; Munro in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvi. 105;
Beddome Flora Sylv. ccxxxi. BAJIBUSA ARUKDO, Eb. Klein cx Nees in Linnoea u. 471 ;
Rtqyr. Bamb. 53 tab. xiii, fig. 53 ; Wight ex Stetid. Nom. ed. II. i. 183. BAMBUSA
NEI-SIANA, Arn. ex Munro in Trans. Linn.- Soc. xxvi. 103. BAJIBUSA PUNGENS, Blanco
FL Fihp. ed. I. 270. BAMBOS AHUNDISACEA, Retz Obs. v. 24 (1789); Pers. Syn. i, 393.
AKUKDO BAMBOS, Linn. Sp. PI. 81; Ily^ Rheede Eort. Mai. i. 25, tab. xvi.
Throughout India, Burma and Ceylon, except in the Himalaya and Sub-Himalayan
region and the valleys of the Ganges and Indus. It is scarce in the Central Provinces,
I I S D I AN B L L I B U S E ^ ; GAMBLE.
but occurs not uncommonly iu Guzerat. It is very common in both its small and
large varieties in Orissa, the Circars and Carnatic. It is common in tho Concan and
on the Western Ghat Eange. In the Deccan it occurs in valleys in the hills as it
does throughout South India, ascending in the hill ranges, as in tho Nilgiris, to 3,000
ft. and higher occasionally. In Ceylon it occurs in the warmer parts of the island on the
margins of rivers and streams (Thwaites). In Lower Assam it is found, but infrequently,
in Gauhati and Nowgong, also in Sylhet. It is rather scarce in Eastern Bengal and
Cliittagong, but becomes more commoa in Burma, all over Pegu and Martaban down
to Tenasserim. It is very largely cultivated everywhere, as in Dehra Diin and in
places at the foot of the Punjab Himalaya. It is probably found in its largest size
and finest condition in the hills of the Circars, especially about the Godavari, on the hill
ranges of the eastern and southern scarps of the Mysore plateau, and lu the
Nilgiris. The finest clumps I have seen are those in the Rumpa country, north of
the river Godavau. Those of Gumsur are also very good. It has been very often
collected, especially at the rare seasons of its flowering. It has been introduced into
the "West Indies.
It will bo seen that I have included in this species all tho three described by
Nces and Roxbm-gli and acknowledged by Ruprecht, Munro and Beddome, viz., B.
anmdinacea, B. spinosa, and B. orientalis ; also the B. Arundo admitted by Ruprecht.
I have examined a great series of specimens and can find no real specific difierence
between them. Munro gives the following as characters for separating the_ three;—
(1) B. arundinacea (including B. ilnmcio).—Rachis very glabrous, shining, hard;
spikelets few, long, 6- to 12-flowered; rachilla hirsute, visible; leaves
smooth; leaf-sheaths haiiy.
(2) B. spinosa.—'Rach.k striate, not shining, hard; spikelets many, shorter, 4-to
6-flowered; rachilla hardly visible; leaves glabrous above, hairy beneath;
leaf-sheaths haii-y, then sub-glabrous.
(3) B. orientalis.—Rachia glaucous green, angled, almost soft; spikelet membranous,
5- to S-flowered; Icaf-sheaths hairy with white cilia; petiole hairy.
From these, it appears that B. arundinacea and B. spinosa difi'er very little indeed
except in the rachis of tho panicle and the number of flowers, but the former character
is not, I tiiink, constant, and the latter is probably the result of differences in climate
and soil; wMle B. orientalis seems more nearly a separate species, and indeed the rachis
is remarkable in the specimens 1 have seen, and justifies its admission as a variety.
VAE. orientalis—rachis of the panicle green, angled, almost soft; spikelets membranous;
leaf sheaths hairy, white ciliate; leaf petiole hairy.
But except these, tho characters are by no means constant, and I feel that without
better information I am right in thinking that we have in India pi-oper only one thorny
Bambusa, and that that widely-spread species merely shows, as does the equally universal
Bendrocalamus strictus, an amount of variation such as is fully accounted for by the
variations of climate and soil. Both Brandis and Kurz considered that there was only
one species, and I fully agree. Were I to attempt to separate it into varieties, I
should make a different division to that adopted by Munro. All the three have practically
tlie same culm-sheath—a character which I believe Kui-z, -whose knowledge of,
a.nd interest in, bamboos was so great, considered to settle the matter.