GLUMIFLOR^E. 407 



Among the Grasses useful in manufactures are the Bamboo (Eambusa 

 (irundinacea), the Reed (Arundo Phraymites, A. Donax, &c.). Coarse paper 

 has long been made from the Bamboo in India, and recently from various 

 straws in this country. Lyyeum spartum is the Esparto Grass, much used 

 as a coarse fibrous material, and also in the manufacture of paper. The 

 Sand-grasses, Elymns arenarius, Anmdo arenaria, and similar creeping 

 species, are valuable binding-weeds on shifting sandy shores. Grasses 

 are remarkable for the quantity of silex existing in the epidermis ; and 

 in the Bamboo a solid siliceous substance, called Tabasheer, collects in 

 the hollow joints above the nodes. Many species are cultivated for the 

 elegance of their flowers or their foliage, such as Arundo Donax, various 

 species of Bambusse, Gynerium (the Pampas Grass), &c. 



