A R U 
refolvent: their decoCtion is good in fevers, coughs, pains 
of the throat, &e. the thin bark is cooling and aggluti- 
nant, and a gentle aftringent: it is good in feverifli heats, 
haemorrhages, naufeas, and vomitings : the roots and buds 
are attenuating, and promote urine, and purify the blood ; 
are good in difficulties of urine, wandering pains, obfttuc- 
tions, and in venereal cafes : from the frefh roots mixed 
■with tobacco-leaves and betel in equal portion, and infilled 
and macerated for fome days in oil, is prepared an oint¬ 
ment of great efficacy in difeuffing hard and fchirrhous fwel- 
lings. 1 here is a variety of this, of which the Turks make 
their pens. It was obferved by Tournefort in a valley 
near mount Athos, and on the banks of the river Jordan. 
There are doubtlefs many other varieties of the bamboo 
in the Ealt Indies; and fome, which we look upon as 
fuch, may podibly prove, on more accurate examination, 
to be really diftinch Loureiro, belides three fpecies, men¬ 
tions three principal varieties which lie had obferved. 
x. Arundo maxima : the higheft and thickeft of all the 
bamboos, covered very thick with fpines. 2. Arundo fax: 
the moll hollow of any of the bamboos, and the inter- 
iiodes remarkably long: they fill them with oil and tow, 
and thus ufe' them as torches in travelling, 3. Arundo 
tabacaria: thefe are polilhed, and much tiled for tobacco- 
pipes by the natives. Many other varieties may be feen 
ui Rumphius. Sloane and Browne deferibe the bamboo 
of Jamaica to be only from twelve to fifteen feet in height, 
and about an inch and half in diameter at the bottom. 
2. Arundo donax, or cultivated reed: calyxes five- 
flowered, panicle difttiled, culm Ihrubby. The donax or 
cultivated reed, or evergreen reed, as the gardeners lome- 
times call it ; the great Spanifli or Cyprus reed or cane, 
as it is named by Ray ; the Spanilh reed of Parkinfon; and 
the cyprefs cane or pole reed of Gerard; has the culm fix 
feet high, or more, (to ten, fifteen, and according to fome 
authors twenty or thirty feet,) hard, almoft woody, with 
knots or joints and diaphragms. Above each joint a leaf, 
embracing the culm with a yellow hollow Iheath, two feet 
long, and three .inches broad. The top of the culm ends 
in a point, the leaves rolling up in form of a cone. The 
panicle is a foot and half long, ereCt, and many-flowered. 
There are two flowers, and l'ometimes three, in one calyx, 
but two only ripen. Moll authors let down the calyxes 
as three-flowered ; but in the late editions of the Syjlemq 
Vegetabilium they are given as five-flowered, on the autho¬ 
rity of Turra. It is a native of the fouth of Europe, Si¬ 
beria, Egypt, Cochin-China, &c. It flowers with us in 
July and Auguft; and was cultivated in the Oxford bo¬ 
tanic garden in 1648. The canes are brought to us from 
Spain and Portugal, for the ufe of our weavers, for filhing 
rods, &: c. In Italy they are frequently ufed for the fup- 
port of their vines. They are called there canna de giar- 
dini\ in Spain cana lenoj'a, or limply cana\ in Portugal ca- 
neira, or cava ordinaria ; in France rofeau cultive , canne des 
jardins. or Amply canne ; in Germany zahme-rohr, garien- 
rokr, Jpanifche-rohr, &c, in Holland kengel-riet, zaay-riet, 
tam-riet , cyperfch-rict,fpaanfch-rict ; in Sweden tragardfror , 
or fpankfror-, in Denmark dyrhederor, haugernrfror, fpanjk- 
ror. There is a variety with variegated leaves, cMcAJlriped 
or party-coloured rccd\ it never grows to a third part of the 
height of the other, and the leaves are narrower and much 
Ihorter. 
3. Arundo phragmites, or common reed: calyxes five- 
flowered, panicle loofe. Common reed has the root pe¬ 
rennial, creeping, commonly the height of a man, but va¬ 
rying from three to twelve feet, and having frequently 
twenty, twenty-five, or twenty-fix, joints. Leaves flat, 
from five or fix inches to a foot ora foot and half in length, 
and an inch, or from ten to fifteen lines, in breadth, glau¬ 
cous green, fmooth. The feeds are inclofed by the co¬ 
rolla, as Linnaeus lays, and are not furrounded by long 
hairs, as Leers has reprefented them. The reed flowers 
from July to September, and ripens its feeds in Oclober 
and November. It is very common by the fides of rivers, 
jit ditches, and large Handing waters, Uuougltout Europe, 
N D G. 247 
in Siberia, North America, Ac. Thunbcrg obferved it 
in Japan, with a wider panicle than ours, loofe, but not 
diflufed, and an herbaceous culm. In autumn, when the 
leaves begin to fall, and the (terns are changed brown, it 
is cut for making fcreens in kitchen gardens, and for many 
other ufes: as thatching, for which it is much more du¬ 
rable than draw, for cielings, and to lay acrofs the frame 
of wood-work as the foundation for plailter floors. The 
panicles are ufed by the country people in Sweden to dye 
wool green. The root has been recommended as a fubfii- 
tute for radix chincc, and as anfwering the fame purpofes 
with dog’s grafs, triticum caninum. Common reed is called 
in German gemeine-rohr , rohrfchilf J bufchel-rohr, pfejen-rohr, 
deck-rohr, tcich-rohr , zoajjcr-rohr, weiher-rohr, zaunrieth , and 
wajferfedergras ; in Dutch, gcmeenc-riet, water-rict, and dek- 
ritt ; in Danilli geemeen-ror • in Swediffi Jlrand-ror, takvajs, 
tak-ror ; in French rofeau de rnarais, rofeau commun, and 
rofeau de balai; in Italian canna palujlre ; in Spanilh cana 
palujlre, cana de cere as ; in Portuguele carrico bajlardo ; in 
Rullian hamyfeh. 
4. Arundo epigejos, or final! reed-grafs: calyxes one- 
flowered, panicle ereCt, leaves fmooth underneath. Root 
perennial, creeping far and wide. It differs from the com¬ 
mon reed in its contracted panicle,, equal on all fides, not 
pointing one way. Native of many parts of Europe ; flow¬ 
ering in July. 
5. Arundo-calamagroftis, or wood reed-grafs : calyxes 
one-flowered,, fmooth ; corollas woolly; culm branched. 
Root perennial, creeping. It differs from the foregoing. 
fpecies in having a more (lender panicle,, and the calyxes 
draw-coloured, not drawn out into a very long point, nor 
blue at the edge. Scopoli removes this fpecies to the ge¬ 
nus avena x in which he is Angular. Native of moft parts 
of Europe, in moilt woods and hedges; flowering in June 
and July. 
6 . Arundo arenaria, or fea reed-grafs :■ calyxes one-flow¬ 
ered, leaves rolled inwards, dagger-pointed, and pungent. 
Sea reed-grafs has a Itrong creeping perennial root, with 
many tubers at the joints, the (ize of a pea. Seed not 
larger than canary-feed, but round, aiid rather (harp at the 
upper end. Native of Candy coafts in Europe and Ame¬ 
rica ; flowering in June and July. By means of its creep¬ 
ing roots, it helps very much to confolidate driving fluids, 
which gather about it in hills or banks, and are thus pre¬ 
vented from difperfing over and impo.veriffiing the adjoin¬ 
ing fields. The Dutch have profited by a knowledge of 
this fact; and Mr. Woodward informs 11s, that it is plant¬ 
ed about Wells in Norfolk, to aid in repelling the fea. 
The country people know it by the names of J'ea mat wee d t 
marram, and hclme. They cut and bleach it for making 
mats; and, where it is plentiful, houles are thatched with it-. 
New Species. 7. Arundo conlpicula : calyxes one-flow¬ 
ered, panicle loofe from ere£t fpreading, awn of the outer 
petal reflex and very long. Native of New Zealand. 
8. Arundo agreftis; (lowers lix-ftamened, panicle (piked, 
fpikelets heaped; lower branches of the culm very (piny, 
calyxes one-flowered. This fpecies, being very hard, is 
extremely durable: on account of this quality, and the 
clolenefs of its lpines, it is peculiarly proper to be em¬ 
ployed in the circumvallation of fortified places. Native 
of Cochin-China, in mountains and dry defert places. 
9. Arundo. mitis: flowers (ix-ffamened; panicle ere£L, 
contracted; fpikes long, imbricate; culm very even, un¬ 
armed; calyxes one-flowered. This is cultivated in Co¬ 
chin-China, in the fields and hedges; and being divided 
into long thin pieces is ufed for weaving into hats, coffers, 
bafkets, and a variety of uteniils, which are very elegant. 
10. Arundo multiplex: flowers lix-ftamened; fpikes 
interrupted, fpikelets in whorls; culm divided; calyxes 
one-flowered. Found in the northern provinces of Co¬ 
chin-China, in cultivated places; where it is ufed as 
hedges for the reparation of gardens. 
n. Arundo Bengalenfis: calyxes two-flowered; panicle 
erect with three-flowered pedicels* Native of Bengal 5 
found there by Koeui^* 
12. Arundo 
