From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Common name for various tall grass-like plants of wetlands
Reeds growing in
saltmarsh
in the estuary of the
River Tay
.
Reed
is a common name for several tall,
grass-like plants
of
wetlands
.
Varieties
[
edit
]
They are all members of the
order
Poales
(in the modern, expanded circumscription), and include:
In the grass family,
Poaceae
[
edit
]
- Paper reed or papyrus (
Cyperus papyrus
), the source of the Ancient Egyptian writing material, also used for making
boats
- Bur-reed (
Sparganium
species)
- Reed-mace (
Typha
species), also called bulrush or cattail
- Cape thatching reed (
Elegia tectorum
), a restio originating from the South-western Cape, South Africa.
- Thatching reed (
Thamnochortus insignis
), another restio species originating from the same geographic region.
Use in construction
[
edit
]
A reed house under construction in the marshes of Iraq, 1978
Many different cultures have used reeds in construction of buildings of various types for at least thousands of years. One contemporary example is the
Marsh Arabs
.
Thatching
[
edit
]
A man in Germany thatching a roof using reeds
Phragmites australis
, the
common reed
, is used in many areas for
thatching
roofs. In the
United Kingdom
, common reed used for this purpose is known as "Norfolk reed" or "water reed". However, "wheat reed" and "Devon reed" are not reeds but long-stemmed
wheat
straw.
Use in music
[
edit
]
Ancient Greeks
used
Arundo donax
to make
flutes
known as kalamaulos; this is a compound word, from kalamos (cane) + aulos (flute). At the time, the best cane for flutes came from the banks of river Kephissos, in Attica, Greece. Several kalamaulos tuned differently and tied together, made a syrinx or
Panpipes
.
A. donax
is still the principal source material of
reed
makers for
clarinets
,
saxophones
,
oboes
,
bassoons
,
bagpipes
, and other
woodwind
instruments.
[1]
The
Var country
in southern France contains the best-known supply of instrument reeds.
Other uses
[
edit
]
Bamboo
and, even more commonly,
rattan
stems are used as "reed sticks" to wick and disperse the scent of
essential oils
in aroma diffusers. (See
Rattan § Food source
.)
See also
[
edit
]
Reeds pictured in the coat of arms of
Ruokolahti
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Opperman, Kalman (1956).
Handbook for making and Adjusting Single Reeds
. New York, New York: Chappell & Co. p. 40.
External links
[
edit
]