Perennial —Flowers from July to September. 
Root creeping. Culms (stems ) upright, stout, from 5 to 7 feet 
high, annual, hollow, with many knots, very smooth, shining, leafy. 
Leaves a foot long, or more, spear-shaped, broad, many-ribbed, 
rough-edged, egg-shaped at the base, tapering to a very fine point 
at the apex. Sheaths long, furrowed, with tufted, silky hairs, in 
place of a sdpula. Panicle very large, brownish-purple, handsome, 
at first upright, and contracted, afterwards spreading, finally droop- 
ing. Spikelets spear-shaped, pointed, dark purple, from 3- to 
6-flovvered. Calyx of 2, unequal, purple glumes, shorter than the 
contained awnless florets, which are 6 or less in number. Each 
floret, except the lowermost, is accompanied by a tuft of long silky 
hairs at its base; which spring from the rachis or floral receptacle, 
and not from the florets themselves. As the flowers advance, the 
tufts of hairs become longer and more conspicuous. 
This plant is a native throughout Euiope, in Siberia, North America, tsc. 
TiiUNBFnii is said to have observed it in Japan, with a wider panicle than ours, 
loose, but not diffused, and an herbaceous culm. It forms frequently patches of 
immense extent, called Beed-ronds in some parts of the west of Eneland, where 
harbour many aquatic birds, and the rare Parus biarmicus, or Bearded Tit- 
mouse, which feeds upon the seeds. The panicles of flowers are often dried and 
introduced in Winter boquets; in Holland they are extensively used for making 
hearth-besoms; and in Lapland, for dyeing coarse cloths of a yellowish-green 
colour. The culms are much used for thatching, for w hich purpose they are 
superior to common straw ; and in several of the feuny counties in England, not 
only cottages, but houses of a better description, are covered with them. Screens 
to keep of}' the cold winds in gardens are made of them ; and they are laid across 
the frame of wood-work, as the foundation for plaster floors; they are in great 
request with brick-makers; and to make pens for sketching or etching where 
freedom is required. Till the introduction (in the seventh century) of the more 
proper pens ( pennaj , made of the quills of birds, they were likewise in general 
use for writing, though inferior to those produced in warmer climates. They also 
occasionally serve for the shafts of arrows. '1 he inner membrane of the culm 
makes an excellent hygrometer. The young shoots, if cut ofFfrom the root where 
not exposed to the light, make a good pickle. In the heads of this plant the 
Entomologist may often find a considerable variety ofinsects, whither they resort 
for food or shelter. Puccinia Graminis, Hook. Brit. FI. v. ii. pt. ii. p. 363, 
often occurs in great abundance on the leaves and culms of this species of Reed. 
This is the same parasitical fungus which so often attacks the wheat, and which 
is so injurious to corn. It is known to the farmers under the names of Blight, 
Mildew, and Rust. For very highly magnified figures of it, see two excellent 
engravings accompanying a paper on the subject of blight, &c. in corn, by Sir 
.1. Banks, in the Annals of Botany , v. ii. p. 51. ; and Curtis’s Pract. Observ. 
on Brit. Grasses, (5th edit.) p. 101. Spha'ria arundindcea, Hook. Brit. FI. 
v. ii. pt. ii. p. 256, is not uncommon on such culms as have lost the sheathing 
bases of the leaves. 
In most parts of the kingdom the Reed is annually cut ; and in the fenny parts 
of Lincolnshire, Dr. Johnston tells us, it forms a valuable harvest Pennant 
says, he saw a stock of Reeds, the property of a single farmer, which was worth 
from two to three hundred pounds. Swamps, and land occasionally overflowed, 
may be rendered very productive by being planted with Reeds, for which purpose 
pieces of the root should be placed in the ground, in rows, at a foot or 18 inches 
apart. A variety is sometimes found with variegated leaves. 
