bulrush

bulrush
    n 1: tall marsh plant with cylindrical seed heads that explode
         when mature shedding large quantities of down; its long
         flat leaves are used for making mats and chair seats; of
         North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa [syn:
         {cat's-tail}, {bullrush}, {bulrush}, {nailrod}, {reed
         mace}, {reedmace}, {Typha latifolia}]
    2: tall rush with soft erect or arching stems found in Eurasia,
       Australia, New Zealand, and common in North America [syn:
       {bulrush}, {bullrush}, {common rush}, {soft rush}, {Juncus
       effusus}]
    

Bulrush \Bul"rush`\ (b[.u]l"r[u^]sh`), n. [OE. bulrysche,
   bolroysche; of uncertain origin, perh. fr. bole stem + rush.]
   (Bot.)
   A kind of large rush, growing in wet land or in water.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: The name bulrush is applied in England especially to
         the cat-tail ({Typha latifolia} and {Typha
         angustifolia}) and to the lake club-rush ({Scirpus
         lacustris}); in America, to the {Juncus effusus}, and
         also to species of {Scirpus} or club-rush.
         [1913 Webster]
    

cattail \cat"tail\, Cat-tail \Cat"-tail\(k[a^]t"t[=a]l), n.
   (Bot.)
   A tall erect rush or flag ({Typha latifolia}) growing widely
   in fresh and salt marshes, with long, flat, sword-shaped
   leaves, having clusters of small brown flowers in a dense
   cylindrical spike at the top of the stem; -- called also
   {bulrush} and {reed mace}. The leaves are frequently used for
   seating chairs, making mats, etc. See {Catkin}.
   [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]

   Note: The {lesser cat-tail} is {Typha angustifolia}.
         [1913 Webster]
    

Bulrush
(1.) In Isa. 58:5 the rendering of a word which denotes
"belonging to a marsh," from the nature of the soil in which it
grows (Isa. 18:2). It was sometimes platted into ropes (Job.
41:2; A.V., "hook," R.V., "rope," lit. "cord of rushes").

  (2.) In Ex. 2:3, Isa. 18:2 (R.V., "papyrus") this word is the
translation of the Hebrew _gome_, which designates the plant as
absorbing moisture. In Isa. 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is rendered
"rush." This was the Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was
anciently very abundant in Egypt. The Egyptians made garments
and shoes and various utensils of it. It was used for the
construction of the ark of Moses (Ex. 2:3, 5). The root portions
of the stem were used for food. The inside bark was cut into
strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming
the papyrus used for writing. It is no longer found in Egypt,
but grows luxuriantly in Palestine, in the marshes of the Huleh,
and in the swamps at the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret.
(See {CANE}.)