This section is from the book "Commercial Gardening Vol4", by John Weathers (the Editor). Also available from Amazon: Commercial Gardening, A Practical & Scientific Treatise For Market Gardeners.
There are about fifty different kinds of Hardy Bamboos grown, and these are split up under three genera as follows.
1. Arundinaria: anceps,aris-tata, auricoma, chrysantha, fal-cata, Falconeri, Fortunei, Hindsi, humilis, japonica, Laydekeri, macrosperma, Nagashima, nitida, nobilis, palmata, pumila, pygmcea, racemosa, Simoni (fig. 412), spathiflora, and Veitchi.
2. BambusA: angustifolia, disticha, marmorea, quad-rangularis, and tessellata.
3. Phyllostachys: aurea, Castillonis, fastuosa, flexuosa, fulva, Henonis, heterocycla, Marliacea, mitis, nigra (fig. 413), nigro-punctata, Quilloi, ruscifolia, sulphurea, violes-cens, and viridi-glaucescens. The Phyllostachys group are as a rule readily distinguished from the others by having the stems alternately rounded and flattened between the joints.
Fig. 412. - Arundinaria Simoni.
Fig. 413. - Phyllostachys nigra.
For all practical purposes all the above are generally called Bamboos, and even botanists differ as to the placing of certain species among the three genera mentioned. Perhaps the most common kinds are A. japonica or Bambusa Metalce, and Phyllostachys Henonis - but all are beautiful and graceful in appearance. For full details as to characters of each species the reader is advised to consult the Practical Guide to Garden Plants (Longmans), pp. 964 to 971. Hardy Bamboos are easily grown in a loamy soil, enriched with well-decayed manure and topdressed annually. They should be sheltered from bleak northerly and easterly winds in spring. The best time to transplant or divide is late in April or in May, and not in autumn or winter which are the worst periods. Plants for sale are usually grown in pots, and prices vary according to the law of supply and demand.
 
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