106 
TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Arundo. 
Bristle-pointed Oat Grass. Welsh: Blew-geirch. E.) Among oats. 
(Among corn in Anglesey. Welsh Bot. We learn from E. Bot. that it is 
a common weed in corn-fields in Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire, and on the 
downs of Cornwall. Observed between Penzance and St. Ives, by Mr. 
Anderson. Jones’s Tour. E.) A. July. 
(A. alpi'na. Panicle erect, slightly branched : florets about five, lon¬ 
ger than the calyx; partial stalk bearded under each; leaves 
flat, minutely serrated, naked; sheaths rough ; root fibrous. 
E. Bot. 2141. 
Hoot tufted, not creeping. Stem two feet high, striated. Leaves strap- 
shaped, rough-edged, naked, with many rough ribs; none of the leaves 
involute, as in A. pratensis , nor so strongly serrated. Stipula triangular, 
acute, jagged. Panicle three or four inches long, pale silvery brown. 
Spikelets nearly an inch long. Each Jloret subtended by a large tuft of 
bristly hairs. 
Great Alpine Oat Grass. A. alpina. Sm. Linn. Tr. A. planiculmis. 
E. Bot. Hook, not of Schrad. Alpine rocks. Found by Mr. G. Don 
upon the rocky summits of the mountains of Clova, Angus-shire. 
P. July. Sm. E.) 
ARUN'DO.* Cal. two-valved : Bloss. awnless, surrounded with 
down at the base. 
A. phragmi'tes. Calyx five-flowered; panicle spreading. 
(E. Bot. 401. E.)— H. Ox. viii. 8. 1— Bod. 602— Lob. Obs. 28. 1— Ger. Em. 
36. 1— Park. 1209. 1— J. B. ii. 485. 1 —C. B. Th. 2 69—Trag. 674. 2— 
Leers 7. 1 — Mont. Arundo B. E. — Scheuch. 3. 14. D. 
( Stem stout, six or seven feet high, annual. Leaves twelve to eighteen 
inches long, spear-shaped, ribbed, tapering to a very fine point. Panicle 
very large, at length drooping, purplish, brown, and handsome. In this 
particular species the hairs spring rather from the common receptacle, or 
partial stalk; so that the lowermost floret is nearly destitute; other 
species better illustrate the generic distinction by having the hairs on the 
blossom itself: nevertheless, to separate these plants were extremely 
undesirable. E.) Florets four or five, smooth, surrounded at the base 
with white, silky hairs, about the length of the florets. ( Leaves sometimes 
variegated. Relh. E.) 
Common Reed. (Scotch: Loch Reed. Welsh: Corsen gyffred.in. E.) 
Rivers, lakes, ditches; very common. P. July.F 
* From area, arendo ; soon becoming dry. E.) 
t The panicles are used by the country people in Sweden to dye woollen cloth green. 
Reeds are much more durable than straw for thatching, (and are so valuable for such pur¬ 
pose in the fen countries, that when broken down by the innumerable flights of starlings 
which congregate upon them, the injury is attended with serious loss. E ) Screens to 
keep off 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 : (also in demand for brick-makers ; 
and to make pens for sketching or etching where freedom is required. Till the intro¬ 
duction, (in the seventh century,) of the more proper pens ( penna ), made of the quills of 
birds, they were likewise in general use for writing, though inferior to those produced 
in warmer climates. They likewise occasionally serve for the shafts of arrows. 
Swamps, and land occasionally overflowed, may be rendered productive by being 
planted with reeds, for which purpose pieces of the root should be placed in the ground. 
