THE AMBOINESE HERBAL Book VI. Chapter I.

In these islands I have observed three common and three rare species; namely, the White Leleba, called Leleba pæti in Malay, which is the best and most useful. It is named "white" because when cut and dried it shows a white color. It rises with many erect stalks to the length of a spear, fifteen or sixteen feet long, many of which grow together near the root. The primary root is scarcely a thumb thick, jointed like Ginger original: Zingiberis, creeping transversely, very hard and solid, four or five transverse fingers long; then it rises from the earth through a node, showing the form of a small boil or bulb, from which first a long horn is raised, which then grows into a shoot or stalk. At the sides of this root, other smaller nodes or buds appear, also producing new shoots, through which eight or ten stalks form a bush-like shape, joined near the root. This transverse root bears no small fibers, but these sprout directly under the stalks, as thick as a straw or a quill, wrinkled, firm, and hard, through which this shrub fixes itself in the earth and draws nourishment. The stalks are two fingers thick, six or seven feet high, and are devoid of branchlets from the root up to the top; however, the substance of the reed itself is no thicker than a straw, of the same hardness as our European reed. The lower internodes The sections between the joints or nodes are two feet long, the upper ones three and three and a half feet, and at every node they bear a leaf lying closely against the reed like a dry sheath, which is hairy all over with very thin hairs, exciting an unpleasant itching on the skin if touched—though this does not last long, in much the same way as is excited by crushed Amaranth original: Amarantum; likely referring to a stinging plant variety.

The reed itself is smooth on the outside, grass-green at the lower nodes, and pale green and whitish at the upper ones; if it is cut down, it dries to a white color. It is hollow inside, and certain green joints contain a clear and drinkable water.

The third part from the bottom bears many erect branchlets all around, a span or a foot long, some of which are as thick as a straw, some as a quill; all are erect and lie closely against the main stalk, which unfold themselves into leaves. In the upper internodes, however, these branchlets, as well as the leaves themselves, are gradually larger and extend themselves more. These branchlets also bear that hairy sheath, or quasi-broken leaves, near their origin.

The true leaves grow four or five to a stalk; the lower ones are a hand long and a thumb wide, like our common reed. In the upper joints, they are from thirteen to seventeen inches long, about four inches wide, thin, and making a sound like paper i.e., rustling. They are striated along their length with many thin nerves, whence they are also somewhat rough, and they split very easily along these lines. The middle nerve is quite firm, deep green and smooth above, gray or ash-colored below, and hairy with stinging hairs near the petiole leaf-stalk.

The edges of the leaves are sharp, and easily wound those who touch them if they are rubbed backward. The tip of the branchlets ends in a long, green, and soft horn, a span long and a quill thick, which gradually unfolds itself into a leaf.

The first horn or shoot sprouting from the root, and, as has been said, growing to a height of six or eight feet before it produces leaves, is so covered with that hairy sheath that it can hardly be handled because of the small spines. It is soft and herbaceous inside, and in this species, it is inedible. The manner of growth mentioned in this species also applies to the subsequent species, except for such variations as will be indicated in each chapter.

Flowers and fruit are so rarely observed on this reed that it is commonly held to be sterile; this, however, is false. For at the beginning of the rainy season, or in the month of May, a long stalk or culm rises from this mature reed, divided into knobbed clusters original: capitula verticillata separated by intervals. Each cluster is composed of various tips and sharp heads like...