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ARUNDO CALAMAGROSTIS. j Spec. Plant.
Calamagrostis lanceolata,
Withering, edit. 3.
Silky Reed.
Spec. Char. Panicle branchedj calyx with one flower; corolla with an arista proceeding
from a small cleft at the summit o f the larger valve.
Op all our British Arundines this species is certainly the scarcest, yet cannot be considered as a
rare plant; it is not uncommon in the eastern counties, and it will probably be observed to be more
generally diffused when more distinctly known. It appears in some instances to have been confounded
with A. epigejos, but very little of the harshness universal to that plant will be found to exist in A.
calamagrostis, whose soft and silky panicle will readily distinguish the species without the microscopic
character of the arista.------Straw smooth, but a little rough immediately under the panicle: leaves
long, slender, roughish on the outside, and rough and scored on the inner, which surface, in a young
state, is beset with very short hairs, which soon fall o f : calyx nearly as long again as the corolla.
The whole plant is more slender and delicate than the epigejos; and the panicle makes its appearance
sooner than in that species.------Of the five British Reeds, two only can be considered as possessing
any obvious utility, but if they promote not, they are not injurious to the labours of man; retiring
from cultivation, they inhabit stations rude and unproductive, nor obtrude upon soil moistened by
the sweat of, his brow.
A, the Calyx.
B, the Corolla invested with its wool.
C, the Corolla with the wool detached.