26 Paper Reed. 



CYPERUS PAPYRUS— PAPER REED. 



Natural Class, Monocotyledones ; Order, Cyperaceae. Linnsean Class, Tri- 

 andria ; Order, Monogyuia. Generic Distinctions : — spikelets, com- 

 pressed, distinct; glumes, one valved, numerous, imbricated; corolla, 



none ; style, deciduous ; seed, naked. 



This genus, and others belonging to the same natural order, 

 are very widely distributed over the globe. Says Lindley, 

 " They are found in marshes, ditches, and running streams, in 

 meadows and on heaths, in groves and forests, on the blowing 

 sands of the sea shore, on the tops of mountains, from the arc- 

 tic to the antarctic circle, wherever Phaenogamous vegetation 

 can exist." These plants also compose the Sedge tribe, 

 which, though so strongly resembling the grasses in general 

 appearance and habit, differs from them in this remarkable 

 particular. Many of the grasses possess nutritive qualities, 

 and furnish materials for the manufacture of flour and sugar, 

 while the sedges are mostly destitute of the necessary nutri- 

 ment even for the food of cattle. The roots of some of the 

 Cyperuses, however, possess medicinal properties. Those of 

 C. longus, are succulent, and contain a mucilage, together with 

 a bitter principle which gives them a tonic effect. Those of 

 another species are employed in India by the native physi- 

 cians in cases of cholera, and the Hindoo ladies use those of C. 

 jperennis in perfuming their hair. In this country, these and 

 similar plants are principally used in making the bottoms of 

 chairs, in stuffing cushions, and for similar purposes. 



The most useful and celebrated of the genus Cyperus, is 

 undoubtedly the one represented in our engraving. It is an 

 inhabitant of the southern regions of Europe, Italy and Sicily, 

 (where it has probably been introduced in comparatively 

 modern times,) of Palestine, and of Arabia. But the Papyrus 

 is best known for its connexion with the history of the Egyp- 

 tians. Its native country, it is presumed, was Ethiopia, whence 

 it spread along the Nile into Egypt. The Egyptians, from the 

 earliest times, made ropes, as well as boats, of the Paper Reed, 

 and it is supposed by commentators, that the Hebrew word 



