What is "phalaris arundinacea"

Grass \Grass\, n. [OE. gras, gres, gers, AS, gr[ae]s, g[ae]rs; akin to OFries. gres, gers, OS., D., G., Icel., & Goth. gras, Dan. gr[ae]s, Sw. gr[aum]s, and prob. to E. green, grow. Cf. Graze.]

1. Popularly: Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts; pasture.

2. (Bot.) An endogenous plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, the husks or glumes in pairs, and the seed single.

   Note: This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.

3. The season of fresh grass; spring. [Colloq.]

   Two years old next grass.
   --Latham.

4. Metaphorically used for what is transitory. Surely the people is grass. --Is. xl. 7. Note: The following list includes most of the grasses of the United States of special interest, except cereals. Many of these terms will be found with definitions in the Vocabulary. See Illustrations in Appendix. Barnyard grass, for hay. South. Panicum Grus-galli. Bent, pasture and hay. Agrostis, several species. Bermuda grass, pasture. South. Cynodon Dactylon. Black bent. Same as Switch grass (below). Blue bent, hay. North and West. Andropogon provincialis. Blue grass, pasture. Poa compressa. Blue joint, hay. Northwest. Aqropyrum glaucum. Buffalo grass, grazing. Rocky Mts., etc.

   1. Buchlo["e] dectyloides.

   2. Same as Grama grass (below). Bunch grass, grazing. Far West. Eriocoma, Festuca, Stips, etc. Chess, or Cheat, a weed. Bromus secalinus, etc. Couch grass. Same as Quick grass (below). Crab grass,

      1. Hay, in South. A weed, in North. Panicum sanguinale.

      2. Pasture and hay. South. Eleusine Indica. Darnel

         1. Bearded, a noxious weed. Lolium temulentum.

         2. Common. Same as Rye grass (below). Drop seed, fair for forage and hay. Muhlenbergia, several species. English grass. Same as Redtop (below). Fowl meadow grass.

            1. Pasture and hay. Poa serotina.

            2. Hay, on moist land. Gryceria nervata. Gama grass, cut fodder. South. Tripsacum dactyloides. Grama grass, grazing. West and Pacific slope. Bouteloua oligostachya, etc. Great bunch grass, pasture and hay. Far West. Festuca scabrella. Guinea grass, hay. South. Panicum jumentorum. Herd's grass, in New England Timothy, in Pennsylvania and South Redtop. Indian grass. Same as Wood grass (below). Italian rye grass, forage and hay. Lolium Italicum. Johnson grass, grazing and hay. South and Southwest. Sorghum Halepense. Kentucky blue grass, pasture. Poa pratensis. Lyme grass, coarse hay. South. Elymus, several species. Manna grass, pasture and hay. Glyceria, several species. Meadow fescue, pasture and hay. Festuca elatior. Meadow foxtail, pasture, hay, lawn. North. Alopecurus pratensis. Meadow grass, pasture, hay, lawn. Poa, several species. Mesquite grass, or Muskit grass. Same as Grama grass (above). Nimble Will, a kind of drop seed. Muhlenbergia diffsa. Orchard grass, pasture and hay. Dactylis glomerata. Porcupine grass, troublesome to sheep. Northwest. Stipa spartea. Quaking grass, ornamental. Briza media and maxima. Quitch, or Quick, grass, etc., a weed. Agropyrum repens. Ray grass. Same as Rye grass (below). Redtop, pasture and hay. Agrostis vulgaris. Red-topped buffalo grass, forage. Northwest. Poa tenuifolia. Reed canary grass, of slight value. Phalaris arundinacea. Reed meadow grass, hay. North. Glyceria aquatica. Ribbon grass, a striped leaved form of Reed canary grass. Rye grass, pasture, hay. Lolium perenne, var. Seneca grass, fragrant basket work, etc. North. Hierochloa borealis. Sesame grass. Same as Gama grass (above). Sheep's fescue, sheep pasture, native in Northern Europe and Asia. Festuca ovina. Small reed grass, meadow pasture and hay. North. Deyeuxia Canadensis. Spear grass, Same as Meadow grass (above). Squirrel-tail grass, troublesome to animals. Seacoast and Northwest. Hordeum jubatum. Switch grass, hay, cut young. Panicum virgatum. Timothy, cut young, the best of hay. North. Phleum pratense. Velvet grass, hay on poor soil. South. Holcus lanatus. Vernal grass, pasture, hay, lawn. Anthoxanthum odoratum. Wire grass, valuable in pastures. Poa compressa. Wood grass, Indian grass, hay. Chrysopogon nutans. Note: Many plants are popularly called grasses which are not true grasses botanically considered, such as black grass, goose grass, star grass, etc. Black grass, a kind of small rush ( Juncus Gerardi), growing in salt marshes, used for making salt hay. Grass of the Andes, an oat grass, the Arrhenatherum avenaceum of Europe. Grass of Parnassus, a plant of the genus Parnassia growing in wet ground. The European species is Parnassia palustris; in the United States there are several species. Grass bass (Zo["o]l.), the calico bass. Grass bird, the dunlin. Grass cloth, a cloth woven from the tough fibers of the grass-cloth plant. Grass-cloth plant, a perennial herb of the Nettle family ( B[oe]hmeria nivea syn. Urtica nivea), which grows in Sumatra, China, and Assam, whose inner bark has fine and strong fibers suited for textile purposes. Grass finch. (Zo["o]l.)

               1. A common American sparrow ( Po["o]c[ae]tes gramineus); -- called also vesper sparrow and bay-winged bunting.

               2. Any Australian finch, of the genus Po["e]phila, of which several species are known. Grass lamb, a lamb suckled by a dam running on pasture land and giving rich milk. Grass land, land kept in grass and not tilled. Grass moth (Zo["o]l.), one of many small moths of the genus Crambus, found in grass. Grass oil, a fragrant essential volatile oil, obtained in India from grasses of the genus Andropogon, etc.; -- used in perfumery under the name of citronella, ginger grass oil, lemon grass oil, essence of verbena etc. Grass owl (Zo["o]l.), a South African owl ( Strix Capensis). Grass parrakeet (Zo["o]l.), any of several species of Australian parrots, of the genus Euphemia; -- also applied to the zebra parrakeet. Grass plover (Zo["o]l.), the upland or field plover. Grass poly (Bot.), a species of willowwort ( Lythrum Hyssopifolia). --Johnson. Crass quit (Zo["o]l.), one of several tropical American finches of the genus Euetheia. The males have most of the head and chest black and often marked with yellow. Grass snake. (Zo["o]l.)

                  1. The common English, or ringed, snake ( Tropidonotus natrix).

                  2. The common green snake of the Northern United States. See Green snake, under Green. Grass snipe (Zo["o]l.), the pectoral sandpiper ( Tringa maculata); -- called also jacksnipe in America. Grass spider (Zo["o]l.), a common spider ( Agelena n[ae]via), which spins flat webs on grass, conspicuous when covered with dew. Grass sponge (Zo["o]l.), an inferior kind of commercial sponge from Florida and the Bahamas. Grass table. (Arch.) See Earth table, under Earth. Grass vetch (Bot.), a vetch ( Lathyrus Nissolia), with narrow grasslike leaves. Grass widow. [Cf. Prov. R. an unmarried mother, G. strohwittwe a mock widow, Sw. gr["a]senka a grass widow.]

                     1. An unmarried woman who is a mother. [Obs.]

                     2. A woman separated from her husband by abandonment or prolonged absence; a woman living apart from her husband. [Slang.]

                        Grass wrack (Bot.) eelgrass.

                        To bring to grass (Mining.), to raise, as ore, to the surface of the ground.

                        To put to grass, To put out to grass, to put out to graze a season, as cattle.

Reed \Reed\, n. [AS. hre['o]d; akin to D. riet, G. riet, ried, OHG. kriot, riot.]

1. (Bot.) A name given to many tall and coarse grasses or grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems, such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the common reed of Europe and North America ( Phragmites communis).

2. A musical instrument made of the hollow joint of some plant; a rustic or pastoral pipe.

   Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed Of Hermes.
   --Milton.

3. An arrow, as made of a reed.
   --Prior.

4. Straw prepared for thatching a roof. [Prov. Eng.]

5. (Mus.)

   1. A small piece of cane or wood attached to the mouthpiece of certain instruments, and set in vibration by the breath. In the clarinet it is a single fiat reed; in the oboe and bassoon it is double, forming a compressed tube.

   2. One of the thin pieces of metal, the vibration of which produce the tones of a melodeon, accordeon, harmonium, or seraphine; also attached to certain sets or registers of pipes in an organ.

6. (Weaving) A frame having parallel flat stripe of metal or reed, between which the warp threads pass, set in the swinging lathe or batten of a loom for beating up the weft; a sley. See Batten.

7. (Mining) A tube containing the train of powder for igniting the charge in blasting.

8. (Arch.) Same as Reeding. Egyptian reed (Bot.), the papyrus. Free reed (Mus.), a reed whose edges do not overlap the wind passage, -- used in the harmonium, concertina, etc. It is distinguished from the beating or striking reed of the organ and clarinet. Meadow reed grass (Bot.), the Glyceria aquatica, a tall grass found in wet places. Reed babbler. See Reedbird. Reed bunting (Zo["o]l.) A European sparrow ( Emberiza sch[oe]niclus) which frequents marshy places; -- called also reed sparrow, ring bunting. (b) Reedling. Reed canary grass (Bot.), a tall wild grass ( Phalaris arundinacea). Reed grass. (Bot.)

   1. The common reed. See Reed, 1.

   2. A plant of the genus Sparganium; bur reed. See under Bur. Reed organ (Mus.), an organ in which the wind acts on a set of free reeds, as the harmonium, melodeon, concertina, etc. Reed pipe (Mus.), a pipe of an organ furnished with a reed. Reed sparrow. (Zo["o]l.) See Reed bunting, above. Reed stop (Mus.), a set of pipes in an organ furnished with reeds. Reed warbler. (Zo["o]l.)

      1. A small European warbler ( Acrocephalus streperus); -- called also reed wren.

      2. Any one of several species of Indian and Australian warblers of the genera Acrocephalus, Calamoherpe, and Arundinax. They are excellent singers.

         Sea-sand reed (Bot.), a kind of coarse grass ( Ammophila arundinacea). See Beach grass, under Beach.

         Wood reed grass (Bot.), a tall, elegant grass ( Cinna arundinacea), common in moist woods.

Phalaris arundinacea, sometimes known as reed canary grass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern Africa and North America. Other common names for the plant include gardener's-garters in English, alpiste roseau in French, rohrglanzgras in German, kusa-yoshi in Japanese, caniço-malhado in Portuguese, and hierba cinta and pasto cinto in Spanish.