1878.1 
AMERICAN AGrRIC ULT URIST. 
1-41 
The Common Reed.— Phragmites communis. 
Tile most stately and conspicuous native grass of 
the Northern States is the Reed. It is also one of 
the most widely distributed, as it not only extends 
completely across this continent, hut has an equal¬ 
ly wide range in the Old World, from the tropics to 
purpose, and they are sometimes used for the con¬ 
struction of huts. Excellent screens, or mats, for 
garden purposes, are made by placing the stems 
side by side, and interlacing them at the ends with 
osiers. The Swedes are said to use the panicles to 
make a green dye for woolen stuffs. Like many 
other plants which naturally grow in W'et places, 
the Reed bears removal to the drier soil of the gar- 
nasus, and is borne by tw T o native species of shrubs 
or small trees, and by a third, found in Japan. Be¬ 
longing to the same family with the Camellia, and 
the Tea, they have a general resemblance to those 
well known plants, though in the case of the Stuar- 
tias the leaves are deciduous. That such showy 
plants should not have received a common name, 
is probably due to their comparative rarity in the 
the common reed. —{Phragmites communis.) the stuartia. — {Stuartiapentagyna.') 
the arctic zone, and even occurs in Australia. It is 
found in swamps and marshes, and along the edges 
of ponds, sometimes reaching the hight of 12 feet, 
and having, at a distance, much the appearance of 
Broom Corn. In less favorable localities, it grows 
to only 5 or 6 feet, and we have seen it flower when 
only two feet high. The leaves are numerous, on 
large plants about two inches wide, and the stem 
is terminated by a large, soft, purplish panicle of 
flowers, which usually gracefully bends to one side, 
and is from a few inches to one or two feet long. 
The individual spikelets are from I to I inch long, 
and each contains three to six flowers ; the lowest 
one is staminate, or neutral, while the others are 
perfect; the little staik which supports the florets 
is furnished with very long and silky hairs. The 
engraving gives the general appearance of the 
flower cluster or panicle, though reduced in size, 
and below is a separate spikelet, about twice as 
large as natural. The plant has numerous strong 
underground stems, or root-stocks, which extend in 
all directions, and have been known to reach the 
length of 40 feet; these make the Reed a most 
servicable plant in securing the banks of rivers, as 
by their interlacing they bind the soil and prevent 
washing ; it has also been planted to aid in the re¬ 
clamation of low lands. The foliage is eaten by 
cattle when it is very young and tender, and then 
only when other food is scarce. In Northern Eu¬ 
rope the stems are used for thatching ; they are re¬ 
garded as the most durable of all materials for the 
den, and- may be used in contrast with Arundo 
Donax, Erianthus, and other large ornamental 
grasses. In the present popularity of grass bou¬ 
quets, the Reed has been used in large quantities. 
When dry, the spiklets open, and expose the silky 
hairs, which are so abundant that the panicle has a 
very different appearance from that it presents 
when growing. For this purpose, the panicles 
should be gathered when they are in flower, which 
will be known by the presence of stamens, as in the 
spikelet at the lower part or the engraving. If left 
until the seed is ripe, or even partly developed, the 
spikelets are apt to break apart and shed their down 
in an annoying manner. Formerly this was placed 
in the genus Arundo, and in some of the European 
works of the present day it will be found as Arundo 
Phragmites , but the name generally accepted is 
Phragmites communis, as the structure of the 
flowers is essentially different from those of the 
Arundos. The name Phragmites is from the Greek, 
meaning “growing in hedges,” the application of 
it to this plant is obscure, as it is not a hedge-plant. 
-■» •——— o« — ■ - 
Fine Ornamental Shrubs—The Stuartias. 
The indifference of Americans to beautiful native 
plants, is nowhere more strikingly shown than in 
their almost entire neglect of the Stuartias. The 
genus was dedicated by Catesby to John Stuart, 
Marquis of Bute, who was a correspondent of Lin- 
wild state, but this is the less to be regretted, as 
Stuartia is a pleasing name, and, like Magnolia, may 
well serve in both botanical and popular nomen¬ 
clature. Our two species are, Stuartia pentagyna , 
(the Five-pistilled Stuartia), found in the mountains 
of Tennessee and Virginia, to those of North Caro¬ 
lina and Georgia, and S. Virginica, (the Virginian 
Stuartia), which extends from Virginia to Florida, 
and westward. The first named is the showier as 
well as the hardier of the two, and is the one offered 
by a few of our nurserymen. This, Stuartia pen¬ 
tagyna, has a bushy habit, and ultimately forms a 
dense clump 10 to 15 feet high, and as much in 
diameter. It has oval, pointed leaves, usually with 
minute teeth on their margins, and downy on the 
under surface. The flowers, from the axils of the 
leaves, on very short stalks, are two and a half 
inches, or more, in diameter; the calyx is covered 
with silky hairs, and often tinged with red. The 
petals, usually five, but sometimes six, are cream- 
colored, sometimes purplish at the base, and beau¬ 
tifully scalloped or crimped on the margins ; the 
stamens are numerous ; the pistil has five distinct 
styles, and ripens into a w'oody, ovate, pointed 
5-celled pod, with one or two seeds in each ceil. 
The other species (S. Virginica ) differs from this in 
having downy leaves, smaller, white flowers, and 
purple stamens ; its styles are united into one, and 
the pod globular. It is less hardy than the other, 
and probably can not be depended upon north of 
Philadelphia. The first named species, Stuartia 
