PLANTS MENTIONED IN CLASSICAL WORKS. 271 
Lu xt gives the following account of the above-mentioned 
reeds :—The 3% kien grows in water. Cattle thrive on it 
when it is in seed, and get fat and strong. The people 
of FH Tsing chou and JH Sii chou (Northern Shantung 
and Northern Kiangsu) call it ken, and in 3 JH Yen chou 
(South-western Shantung) and Liaotung they use the same 
name, The #¥ kia is the same as ft lu The ZF tan or 
i wan is also called 3k t/. In autumn, when the plant is 
getting hard and its seeds ripen the people term it #f huan. 
lts heart (marrow) is pulled out from below. The root is 
of the size of-a goose’s quill, tapering. The people of 
Yang chou (Chekiang, Anhui) call it ma wed (horse’s tail). 
Kone Yine-ra is of opinion that the above classical names 
of plants refer to three kinds of reed. He says one of these 
‘Plants is called kia when it begins to grow, /w when it 
flowers, and wei when it is full grown and in seed (this is the 
common reed, Phragmites communis). Another plant is 
~ called tan when it begins to grow, t‘an when it increases in 
sf ge and huan when it is in seed. The third plant is the 
* 
_ The common reed, Phragmites communis, is treated of in 
mY, Th. tn wn ei, kia, A good drawing of the plant is 
found in Ch, XIV, 10. The Kiu huang, LIU, 18, 
: figures under the name JF 4% lu sun (lu sprouts) a young 
- plant of this reed. The sprouts of the Phragmites communis 
fre eaten in China like those of the p‘« or Typha, and are 
. also employed in medicine. At Peking coarse mats are 
Woven of the split reed. re : 
Amen evot., 900, ¥E L, vulgo assi, juss’, Arando palustris 
_ Vulgaris, foliis latioribus, calamis firmis, ex quibus puto 
_ Pemtcilla seriptoria confici. Phon zo, XVI, 9-11, WE, Phrag- 
— Meles communis, 
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