JILL A. MacNEICE WASHINGTON (UPI) - A bamboo that blooms but once a century is now roducing its inconspicuous flowers. When blossoming is completed, the plant will die _alf over the world. - Although gardeners who, grow the ornamental plant may find the event a nuisance, botanists are excited. . When Dr. Thomas Soderstrom, curator of botany at the Smithsonian, stumbled upon a patch of blong bamboo, he was ecstatic. “The whole garden was dying. It was horribly ugly,” he said. “But it was beautiful to me.” Soderstrom says the blooming of the umbrella bamboo is a long awaited moment for botanists, who need flowers to accurately classify a plant. After being misnamed half a dozen times in the century since it was-discovered, the tree-grass, as it is called, is finally revealing its true identity — Thamnocalamus spathaceus. The only known stand of the umbrella bamboo in the United States is in the Ar- nold Arboretum at Harvard. That is, Soderstrom suspects it is the umbrella bamboo. He will not know for sure unl it flowers, loses its leaves, and dies. Although there are no blossoms yet, Gary Kohler, bamboo specialist at the Arnold Aboretum, said the plant is showing signs of preliminary growth and could be in full bloom within a week or two. Of all the bamboos, the umbrella bamboo is especially beautiful and graceful, Soderstrom said. The golden stems, which can grow to 12 feet, arch under the weight of dark, feathery foliage. Bamboo is particularly in- teresting, said Soderstrom, because it does something no other plant does: all stands from the same stock bloom at the same time, regardless of where in the world it is transplanted. The flowering cycles in length from seven years to 120 years. “Scientists are still at a loss to explain this mechanism ... Queen makes first ever Royal visit to Switzerland ZURICH, Switzerland (UPI) - Queen Elizabeth IJ and Prince Philip arrived Tuesday for a four-day visit — the first to Switzerland by a British Monarch. The Queen was welcomed by Swiss President George- Andre Chevallaz and received two bouquets of pink roses. The monarch, wearing a light woollen coat of navy blue with matching hat, shoes and gloves, travelled immediately by train to the Swiss capital of Bern where she was to address members of Parliament in the af- temmoon. through Friday at NORTH & WEST VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARDS ADULT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT offer: GENERAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CLASSES (G.E.D.) both DAY and EVENING lf you wish the equivalent of Secondary or High School Graduation these classes could be for you. You may have achieved the knowledge !evel of Grade 12 although leaving school in Grade 10. Find out by writing a G.E.D. test series, and if you are concerned about “passing” and want to prepare yourself tor writing attend aG.E.D Prep ctass If successful in writing you will be given a Grade XIil Certificate Usual time required ts within two months DAY CLASSES 8 30 am to Delbrook School Staniey St ) You can join the class during the first week ot any month Next class begins May 5 EVENING CLASSES 7 00 to 9 30 pm Monday and Wednesday at Carson Graham School couraged to jotn during the first month of the semester in both Day and Evening classes you can write the tests, which are held monthly, when you teel ‘‘ready’’ For further information call Adult Education Office 985-87 41 The welcoming ceremony was brief and simple in accordance with an agreement to keep the visit folksy rather than packed with protocol. ; Switzerland marked the royal visit by decking buses and buildings with Swiss flags and the Union Jack and lining roads with red, white and blue flowers. Although the tour is the first state visit by a British monarch, Queen Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, visited Switzerland privately in 1862, one year after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Equivalent Graduation 12 00 noon Monday (entrance off $25.00 per month You are en. $45.00 per semester botanical mysteries,” said Soderstrom, who has been working with bamboo since 1962. He compared _ the mechanism to an “alarm clock” which is genetically imprinted in all cells of every plant. When the time keeper “rings”, the plant blooms. “Some new shoots barely emerge from the ground before they produce flowers and stop growing,” he said. It may take a decade before the stand regains its former mass. nists’ boon it is one of the greatest Soderstrom sees potential for applications of the plant. It grows quickly, is easily harvested and is especially _ suited to making paper and rayon. Soderstrom says he is now | trying to chemically induce flowering, so that he can control blooming cycles and produce economically viable hybrids. . “When a plant blooms Only once every hundred years,” he said, “there isn't much opportunity to make hybrids.” Runner stripped of Boston title BOSTON (UPI) - Rosie Ruiz, an unknown hailed as winner of the 1980 Boston Marathon women's title last week, was stripped of her tide Tuesday in a scandal involving cheating charges. Jacqueline Gareau_ of Montreal was declared the winner. Boston Marathon Director 4 ACCOUNTING CONTRACTS COST ENGINEERS ELECTRICAL ESTIMATING GRAPHICS HVAC. COMPUTER SERVICES CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Will Cloney announced the decision at a packed news conference following an intensive seven-day review of race tapes, television film and observers’ notes. “We have investigated every possible facet ... we have reached our decision with malice toward none,” Cloney said. 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Windsor (entrance off Staniey St.) North Vancouver MONTHLY FEES -Full Day $65 Mornings $45 Afternoons $35 For information cali 985-8741 Adult Ed. Office 8:30-4:30 980-2713 School of Commerce 8:30-3:30 NEXT INTAKE will be week of MAY 5. . 4:00 P.M. To 8:00 P.M. WATER & WASTE TREATMENT ~~]