252 ARUNDO. 
great extent; but, in consequence of the subdivi- 
sion of old genera by modern botanists, it has be- 
come much limited. The total number of species 
which still figure under the name of Arundo in 
systematic works is upwards of thirty ; and three 
of these are indigenous in Great Britain, while 
two have been introduced to this country from 
Germany and the south of Kurope. 
The cultivated species, Arundo donax, forms 
the type of the genus as now constituted; it is a 
native of the south of Europe, the Caucasian 
mountains, Egypt, and Siberia, and was intro- 
duced to Britain from the first of these regions 
in 1648; it grows to the height of 10 feet, flowers 
in July and August, and sometimes has leaves as 
broad and long as the blade of a small sword ; it 
is cultivated in Italy and the south of France for 
fishing-rods, fences, vine-supporters, and several 
other purposes; and it is grown and prepared in 
Spain and Portugal for exportation to Britain as 
material for weaver’s - reeds, fishing - rods, and 
other similar implements. A dwarf and striped 
variety of it, botanically called Arundo versicolor, 
is the well known and handsome gardener’s gar- 
ters of cottage gardens. 
The common species, Arundo phragmites, grows 
wild in the ditches of Great Britain, has a height 
of about six feet, and blooms from July till Sep- 
tember. It is used for protecting sea-embank- 
ments, thatching houses, ceiling cottages, con- 
structing rustic verandahs, laying the bases of 
| mortar-floors, and forming hot-bed covers for 
tender culinary plants. Its flowers are a green 
dye for wool; and its roots are said to have some 
good medicinal effects in diseases of the liver.— 
The wood species, Arwndo epigejos, classed by 
Sowerby and Smith as a calamagrostis, grows 
wild in moist woods in Britain, has a height of 
two feet, and flowers in July——The upright spe- 
cies, Arundo stricta, grows wild in the marshes 
of Scotland, has a height of 1} foot, and flowers 
in July and August. 
The sea-reed, marrum, or mat-grass—though 
called by some modern botanists Ammophila 
arundinacea, and by others Psamma arenaria, 
—was formerly known to all botanists, and is 
still best known to many as Arundo arenaria, 
and may be noticed more appropriately here 
than under either of its new names. It grows 
in vast abundance on the sea-coasts of Britain, 
and of cther maritime countries of Europe. It 
pierces the sand banks of the shores with its 
tough subterranean stems, and in consequence 
converts them into powerful barriers against the 
inroads of the ocean; and it is planted and ex- 
tended on the sandy, exposed, and mouldering 
coasts of Norfolk and of Cornwall, and amazingly 
protects them from the destructive action of wind 
and tide. A Scottish parliament at a remote date 
passed an act for the preservation of this plant 
and of Elymus arenarius on the coasts of Scot- 
land ; a British parliament, in the reign of George 
Ij. 1742, passed an act for their preservation on 
ASAFCETIDA. 
the north-west coasts of England; and so rigidly 
do these plants continue to be protected by law, 
that they may not be anywhere cut on the coast 
by even the proprietors of the soil, except by such 
parties as claim prescriptive right of cutting it 
on the sea-coasts of Cumberland. The sea-reed 
is very rigid, has bluish rolled-up leaves, and a 
stem two or three feet high, terminates in a dense 
tuft of flowers. and blooms in the months of June 
and July. It is used for thatch, mats, ropes, 
hats, and several other purposes; yet, though it 
contains a large proportion of saccharine matter, 
it is quite unsuited for cultivation as food— 
Sinclair's Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis.— With- 
ering’s Botany.—Loudon’s Encyc. of Plants — 
Miller’s Gardener's Dictionary.—Transactions of 
the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall—Law- 
son’s Agriculturist’s Manual. 
ASAFQGTIDA. A gum-resin derived from 
incisions made, in the upper part of the root 
of the Ferwa asafetida and Ferula Persica, 
both hardy, herbaceous, perennial-rooted plants, 
growing among the mountains of Chorasan 
and Laar in Persia. It is light yellow, be- 
coming darker by age; and consists of agglu- 
tinated tears or masses. It has a strong, and 
to many persons, a disagreeable odour and 
taste. Becomes softer in the hands; burns with 
a clear flame; imperfectly soluble in water, form- 
ing a milky emulsion; best dissolved by alcohol 
containing acid or alkali. Brande’s anaiysis 
of the gum-resin gave resin 48°85, volatile oil 
4:6, gum 19:4, traces of potash and lime salts, 
with sulphuric, phosphoric, acetic, and malic 
acids, bassorin 6:4, extractive with acetate and 
malate potash 1:4, malate of lime 0:4, sulphate | 
of lime, with traces of sulphate of potash 6:2, | 
carbonate of lime 3°5, oxide of iron and alumina 
04, water 6:0, foreign admixture of sand and — 
vegetable fibre 4:6. The volatile oil, which gives 
the characteristic odour to the gum-resin, is ob- 
tained by distilling the latter with water or al- | 
cohol; it is very volatile, lighter than water, at | 
first clear and colourless, acquiring a yellow tint | 
by exposure to the air; taste at first mild, then 
bitter and acrid; soluble in every proportion in 
alcohol and ether, but requires 2,000 parts water 
for solution. It contains sulphur. The resinous 
matter of asafoetida is soluble in alcohol. When 
the alcoholic solution is mixed with water, a 
milky fluid is formed, owing to the deposition of 
the hydrated resin. Oil of turpentine and the 
oil of almonds also dissolve the resin, but less 
readily than alcohol. Besides its usefulness in 
medicine, it is employed among oriental nations 
(in Persia, &c.) as a condiment, either alone, or 
to flavour sauces and other food. The green 
leaves of the plant, as well as the roasted roots, 
are eaten. Captain Pottinger, in his Travels in 
Beloochistan and Scinde, speaks highly of the 
asafoetida plant, as a vegetable which is eaten 
stewed, having the appearance of a cauliflower, 
and held in so very great esteem as to cause quite 
