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REED

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 974 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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REED , a See also:

term applied to several distinct See also:species of large, See also:water-loving See also:grasses. The See also:common or water-reed, Phragmites See also:commune (also known as Arundo phragmites), occurs along the margins of lakes, See also:fens, marshes and placid streams, not only throughout See also:Britain, but widely distributed in See also:arctic and temperate regions. Another very important species in Ammophila arenaria (also known as A. arundinacea or Psamma arenaria), the See also:sea-reed or marram-grass, a native of the sandy shores of See also:Europe and N. See also:Africa. Both species have been of notable See also:geological importance, the former binding the See also:soil and so impeding denudation, and actually converting swamp into dry See also:land, largely by the aid of its tall (5 to so ft.) See also:close set stems. The latter species, of which the branching rootstocks may be traced 30 or even 40 ft., is of still greater importance in holding See also:sand-See also:dunes against the sea, and for this purpose has not only been See also:long protected by See also:law, but has been extensively planted on the coasts of Nor-folk, See also:Holland, See also:Gascony, &c. Other reeds are Calamagrostis (various species), Gynerium argenteum (See also:pampas grass), Deyeuxia, &c., also Arundo Donax, the largest See also:European grass (6 to 12 ft. high), which is abundant in Europe. Reeds have been used from the earliest times in thatching and in other branches of construction, and also for arrows, the pipes of musical See also:instruments, &c. Reed pens are still used in the See also:East. See also:Plants belonging to other orders occasionally See also:share the name, especially the See also:bur-reed (Sparganium) and the reed-See also:mace (Typha), both belonging to the natural See also:order Typhaceae. The bulrushes (Scirpus), belonging to the natural order See also:Cyperaceae, are also to be distinguished.

End of Article: REED

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