ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IV. xi. 12-xii. i 



resembles that of galingale phleos thryon ^ and sedge ; 

 but this needs ^ further enquiry. 



There is also a kind of reed (bush-grass) which 

 grows on land, and which is not erect, but sends out 

 its stein over the ground, like the dog's-tooth grass, 

 and so makes its growth. The ' male ' reed is solid : 

 some call it eiletias ^ 



The Indian reed (bamboo) is very distinct, and 

 as it were a totally different kind ; the ' male ' is 

 solid and the ' female ' hollow (for in this kind too 

 they distinguish a ' male ' and a ' female ' form) ; a 

 number of reeds of this kind grow from one base and 

 they do not form a bush ; the leaf is not long, but 

 resembles the willow leaf ; these reeds are of great 

 size and of good substance, so that they are used for 

 javelins. They grow by the river Akesines.* All 

 reeds are tenacious of life, and, if cut or burnt down, 

 grow up again more vigorously ; also their roots are 

 stout and numerous, so that the plant is hard to 

 destroy. The root is jointed, like that of the dog's- 

 tooth grass, but this is not equally so in all kinds. 

 However let this suffice for an account of reeds. 



Of rushes. 



XII. It remains to speak of the rush,-^ as though 

 it belonged to this class of plants, inasmuch as we 

 must reckon this also among water plants. Of this 

 there are three kinds ♦^ as some distinguish, the 

 •sharp' rush, which is barren and is called the 

 male'; the 'fruiting' kind which we call the ' black- 



* Sch. marks a lacuna ; there is nothing to correspond to 

 .') ixfv &ppr]y. ■* Chenab. 



« c/. 1. 5. 3 ; 1. 8. 1 ; Plin. 21. 112-115 ; Diosc. 4. 52. 



* See Index. 



379 



