ILLUSTRATIONS. 131 



below its bifid extremity, the inner one smaller and narrower 

 and conspicuously ciliated or fringed on its ribs or nerves; 

 these pales enclose three stamens, and a roundish ovary crowned 

 by a pair of feathery styles. 



Another illustration is afforded by the Common Reed,"* 

 which belongs to a different subdivision of the family. This 

 is a stout perennial grass, with a culm varying from five to 

 ten feet high surmounted by a plume of flowers often a foot 

 in length, more or less drooping, and of a purplish- brown 

 colour. The plant has a stout creeping rootstock, and its 

 stems or culms are clothed all the way up with broad grassy 

 leaves often an inch in width. The inflorescence is a large 

 compound panicle, with very numerous small narrow spike- 

 lets. These spikelets are formed of two very unequal lance- 

 shaped sharp-pointed glumes, within which are developed about 

 five florets, the pales of which are narrower, ending in an 

 almost awl-like point, and surrounded by long silky hairs de- 

 veloped from the rachis, which lengthen as the seed ripens, 

 and give to the panicle at that stage a beautiful silky appear- 

 ance. The lower floret is triandrous (bearing three stamens) 

 and barren, but the rest of the florets are perfect, with three 

 stamens, and an ovary with two feathery styles. The Reed, 

 which is generally a common plant in wet places, forms 

 patches of very great extent, called Reed-ronds in some parts 

 of England, and the culms are much used for thatching and 

 for making garden screens, as well as for the walls of sheds 

 and huts. When applied to the latter use, they are generally 

 plastered with well tempered clay. Even without this plaster- 

 ing they last for a considerable time. 



Thus we complete our slight descriptive sketch of the illus- 



* Arvndo Phragmites Plate 22 A. 



K 2 



